Nanomaterials in cancer starvation therapy: pioneering advances, therapeutic potential, and clinical challenges
Nam Tran, Shehzahdi S. Moonshi, Alfred K. Lam, Cu Tai Lu, Charles Vu, Satoshi Arai, Hang T. Ta
Abstract
Gaining significant attention in recent years, starvation therapy based on the blocking nutrients supply to cancer cells via blood occlusion and metabolic interventions is a promisingly novel approach in cancer treatment. However, there are many crucial obstacles to overcome to achieve effective treatment, for example, poor-targeting delivery, cellular hypoxia, adverse effects, and ineffective monotherapy. The starvation-based multitherapy based on multifunctional nanomaterials can narrow these gaps and pave a promising way for future clinical translation. This review focuses on the progression in nanomaterials-mediated muti-therapeutic modalities based on starvation therapy in recent years and therapeutic limitations that prevent their clinical applications. Moreover, unlike previous reviews that focused on a single aspect of the field, this comprehensive review presents a broader perspective on starvation therapy by summarising advancements across its various therapeutic strategies.