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Review
. 2025 Jul 23:13:1601673.
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1601673. eCollection 2025.

Innovative nanoparticle-based therapeutic strategies against glioblastoma multiform: a focus on enhanced delivery systems and efficacy

Kehan Wang  1
Affiliations
Review

Innovative nanoparticle-based therapeutic strategies against glioblastoma multiform: a focus on enhanced delivery systems and efficacy

Kehan Wang. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an exceedingly aggressive primary brain neoplasm characterized by a dismal prognosis owing to its invasiveness, heterogeneity, and immunity to conventional therapies. Conventional therapies, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, encounter constraints due to tumor evasion and physiological obstacles, such as the blood-tumor (BTB) and blood-brain barriers (BBB), which impact the treatment of GBM. Nanotechnology is employed to augment the permeability of anticancer agents through these barriers, thereby improving treatment efficacy and minimizing toxicity. Lipid-based nanoparticles, such as nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), offer drug encapsulation, stability, and controlled release, whereas metal nanoparticles, including gold and silver, augment imaging and photothermal therapy efficacy. This review investigates the traversal of nano carriers across the BBB and BTB, emphasizing the significance of dimensions, charge, and surface functionality, while underscoring the potential of nanotechnology in managing GBM. Advancements in nanomedicine possess the capacity to create more efficacious therapeutic strategies, markedly improving patient outcomes in the management of GBM.

Keywords: blood-brain barriers (BBB); blood-tumor barrier; delivery systems; glioblastoma multiforme; nano compounds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Types of nanoparticles used in glioblastoma treatment.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Three main routes of nanoparticle delivery to the brain in GBM therapy.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Stepwise design of nanoparticles for GBM cell entry and drug release.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Mechanisms by which nanoparticles cross the blood–brain barrier.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Targeted lipid nanoparticles for GBM therapy.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Types of metal nanoparticles and their roles in GBM treatment.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Mechanism of action of lipid–polymer hybrid nanoparticles in glioblastoma therapy.
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Mechanisms by which nanoparticles reverse chemoresistance in glioblastoma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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