| REVIEW |
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| Year : 2018 | Volume
: 1
| Issue : 6 | Page : 183-188 |
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Nanoparticles drug-delivery systems and antiangiogenic approaches in the treatment of gliomas
Maria Caffo1, Salvatore Massimo Cardali1, Elena Fazzari1, Valeria Barresi2, Gerardo Caruso1
1 Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Unit of Neurosurgery, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
2 Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
Correspondence Address:
Prof. Maria Caffo
Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Unit of Neurosurgery, University of Messina, A.O.U. Policlinico “G. Martino,” Via Consolare Valeria, 1, 98125 Messina
Italy
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | 7 |
DOI: 10.4103/glioma.glioma_43_18
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The prognosis of patients with cerebral gliomas remains noticeably poor. Total surgical resection is almost unachievable due to considerable infiltrative ability of glial cells. Furthermore, adjuvant treatments are burdened by considerable limitations. Angiogenesis is the mechanism by which new blood vessels are formed from preexisting ones, thus supporting neoplasm progression. Gliomas are characterized by extensive microvascular proliferation. The extent of neovascularization in brain tumor correlates directly with the biological aggressiveness, degree of malignancy, and clinical recurrence of the tumor. Although a plethora of molecules can act as inducers of angiogenesis, the major growth factors include members of the vascular endothelium growth factor family. The new therapeutic approaches envisage the identification of specific biomarkers involved in this process and try to inhibit them, thus slowing down the neoplastic progression. Nanoparticles (NPs) show the ability to pass the blood–brain barrier, and moreover, when suitably modified, they can bind to specific overexpressed receptors in the glial cells. As carriers, they are able to protect the therapeutic agent and allow their sustained release. In this review, we describe some NP delivery systems which target specific biomarkers to intervene in the process of angiogenesis. |
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