Nowadays, various types of nano bio-hybrids are being used in several targeted tumor therapies.
Cancer is the second major cause of mortality across the world and is responsible for around 9.6 million deaths in 2018. Globally, one out of six death is due to cancer. Around 70% of deaths from cancer occur in low- and middle-income. Now, in new research, the authors Zhiyi Chen, Xiaoyuan Chen, Lang Rao, Jinsui Yu, Meng Du, and Yuhao Chen from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Maryland, the United States, and the Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China suggests that bacteria-based nano bio-hybrids have the potential to provide an effective and targeted approach for cancer treatment.
The research was published in the BIO Integration journal. During this research, the researchers briefly summarized the development of nanomaterial-mediated cancer treatment. Moreover, the team described the advantages and mechanisms of the bacteria-based nano bio-hybrids in cancer treatment, focusing on various therapeutic strategies of nano bio-hybrids that combine bacteria with a nanomaterial in cancer treatment. Methods of cancer treatment such as immunotherapy, photothermal therapy, and chemotherapy are the major factors that determine therapeutic efficiency. Considering this, developing targeted and effective drug delivery systems has great importance in delivering medicines to tumor areas.
Nanomaterials have been used widely as drug carriers. However, the nanomaterial’s low tumor-targeting capability limits their experimental application. It is difficult to penetrate tumor tissue through passive diffusion due to high fluid pressure between tumors. Bacteria can colonize and spread specifically inside the tumor to hinder tumor growth and makes it an ideal contender for delivery vehicles. Moreover, synthetic biology techniques allow bacteria to control many functional proteins and to achieve therapeutic agents’ targeted delivery. Nano bio-hybrids in combination with nanomaterial and bacteria have many advantages such as multimodal therapy, programmed product synthesis, genetic modifiability, and tumor-targeting ability.
