title: The use of nanoparticles as a promising therapeutic approach in cancer immunotherapy.
abstract: Cancer is one of the most important causes of death all over the world, which has not yet been treated efficiently. Although several therapeutic approaches have been used, some side effects such as toxicity and drug resistance have been observed in patients, particularly with chemotherapy. The nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery systems (DDS) have a great potential to improve cancer treatment by transferring therapeutic factors directly to the tumor site. Such a treatment significantly decreases the adverse effects associated with cancer therapy on healthy tissues. Two main strategies, including passive and active methods, have been considered to be effective techniques which can target the drugs to the tumor sites. The current review sheds some light on the place of nanotechnology in cancer drug delivery, and introduces nanomaterials and their specific characteristics that can be used in tumor therapy. Moreover, passive and active targeting approaches focus on antibodies, particularly single chain variable fragments (scFv), as a novel and important ligand in a drug delivery system.
authors.affiliation: a Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.|b Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.|c Department of Immunology , Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: a Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.|b Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.|c Department of Immunology , Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haji-Fatahaliha
authors.affiliation: d Department of Immunology , School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jadidi-Niaragh
authors.affiliation: a Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.|b Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.|c Department of Immunology , Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.
authors.forename: Jafar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Majidi
authors.affiliation: b Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.|c Department of Immunology , Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yousefi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D057127:Single-Chain Antibodies / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm; D057127:Single-Chain Antibodies
keywords: cancer therapy; drug delivery; nanoparticle; scFv; tumor targeting