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Review
. 2022 Nov 25;12(52):33835-33851.
doi: 10.1039/d2ra06036a. eCollection 2022 Nov 22.

Smart biomaterials for enhancing cancer therapy by overcoming tumor hypoxia: a review

Samar A Salim  1   2 , Taher A Salaheldin  3 , Mohamed M Elmazar  4 , A F Abdel-Aziz  2 , Elbadawy A Kamoun  1   5
Affiliations
Review

Smart biomaterials for enhancing cancer therapy by overcoming tumor hypoxia: a review

Samar A Salim et al. RSC Adv. .

Abstract

Hypoxia is a distinctive feature of most solid tumors due to insufficient oxygen supply of the abnormal vasculature, which cannot work with the demands of the fast proliferation of cancer cells. One of the main obstacles to limiting the efficacy of cancer medicines is tumor hypoxia. Thus, oxygen is a vital parameter for controlling the efficacy of different types of cancer therapy, such as chemotherapy (CT), photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), immunotherapy (IT), and radiotherapy (RT). Numerous technologies have attracted much attention for enhancing oxygen distribution in humans and improving the efficacy of cancer treatment. Such technologies include treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO), delivering oxygen by polysaccharides (e.g., cellulose, gelatin, alginate, and silk) and other biocompatible synthetic polymers (e.g., PMMA, PLA, PVA, PVP and PCL), decreasing oxygen consumption, producing oxygen in situ in tumors, and using polymeric systems as oxygen carriers. Herein, this review provides an overview of the relationship between hypoxia in tumor cells and its role in the limitation of different cancer therapies alongside the numerous strategies for oxygen delivery using polysaccharides and other biomaterials as carriers and for oxygen generation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Regulation of HIF-1α stability under normal and hypoxic conditions.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Hyperbaric chambers: (A) mono-place hyperbaric chamber; (B) multi-place hyperbaric chamber.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of delivery oxygen by carriers for tumor hypoxia alleviation.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Schematic representation of in situ generation of oxygen in the tumor.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. DO release concentration in deionized water for PHP complex and PMMA/PHP nanofibrous scaffold.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Cytotoxicity assessment investigation for the PHP complex and the PMMA/PHP nanofibrous scaffold (A) in vitro (cell lines) and (B) in vivo (mice).
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. (A) Anticancer activity evaluation in vitro (MDA cells). (B) Photomicrographs of H&E stained breast tissue for −ve and +ve control mice and mice treated with and PHP-loaded NF.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8. Fabrication and characterization of ONBs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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