Natural polymeric nanocarriers in malignant glioma drug delivery and targeting

Abstract

Among all central nervous diseases, malignant glioma is a crucial part that deserves more attention since high fatality and disability rate. There are several therapeutic strategies applied to the treatment of malignant glioma, especially certain chemotherapy-related treatments. However, the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) seriously hinders the strategy's progress, so how to escape from the barriers is a fascinating question. Herein, we comprehensively discussed the details of malignant glioma and the BBB's functional morphology and summarised several routes bypassing the BBB. Additionally, since possessing excellent properties for drug delivery, we provided an insight into various promising natural polymeric materials and highlighted their applications in the treatment of malignant glioma.

Keywords: Brain targeting; biodegradable polymers; malignant glioma; nanocarriers; the blood brain–barrier (BBB).