Extracellular vesicles as an emerging drug delivery system for cancer treatment: Current strategies and recent advances

Zhenggang Wang; Haokun Mo; Zhiyi He; Anmin Chen; Peng Cheng

doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113480

Extracellular vesicles as an emerging drug delivery system for cancer treatment: Current strategies and recent advances

Biomed Pharmacother. 2022 Sep:153:113480. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113480. Epub 2022 Jul 27.

Authors

Zhenggang Wang¹, Haokun Mo², Zhiyi He³, Anmin Chen⁴, Peng Cheng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China. Electronic address: zgwang_tj@hust.edu.cn.
² Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China. Electronic address: mohaokun@hust.edu.cn.
³ Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China. Electronic address: zhiyihe@hust.edu.cn.
⁴ Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China. Electronic address: anminchen@hust.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China. Electronic address: chengpeng2015@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36076581
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113480

Abstract

Cancer is one of the primary causes of death worldwide, and its morbidity and mortality rates are increasing rapidly. However, standard treatment modalities (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy) often fail to achieve a satisfactory therapeutic effect. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural nano-sized lipid bilayer vesicles secreted from cells. Owing to their advantages of low toxicity, high biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and inherent targeting, EVs can be exploited as drug delivery vectors for cancer treatment. In this review, we summarize the research progress of EV-based drug delivery systems in cancer treatment by focusing on four aspects: sources, cargo types, cargo loading methods and modification strategies. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives are discussed.

Keywords: Cancer treatment; Drug delivery systems; Extracellular vesicles; Nanomedicine.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Biological Transport
Cell Communication
Drug Delivery Systems
Extracellular Vesicles* / metabolism
Humans
Neoplasms* / metabolism