Aptamer nanomedicine for cancer therapeutics: barriers and potential for translation.
Aptamer nanomedicine, including therapeutic aptamers and aptamer nanocomplexes, is beginning to fulfill its potential in both clinical trials and preclinical studies. Especially in oncology, aptamer nanomedicine may perform better than conventional or antibody-based chemotherapeutics due to specificity compared to the former and stability compared to the latter. Many proof-of-concept studies on applying aptamers to drug delivery, gene therapy, and cancer imaging have shown promising efficacy and impressive safety in vivo toward translation. Yet, there remains ample room for improvement and critical barriers to be addressed. In this review, we will first introduce the recent progress in clinical trials of aptamer nanomedicine, followed by a discussion of the barriers at the design and in vivo application stages. We will then highlight recent advances and engineering strategies proposed to tackle these barriers. Aptamer cancer nanomedicine has the potential to address one of the most important healthcare issues of the society.
†Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York 10027, New York, United States.
Yeh-Hsing
YH
Lao
Kyle K L
KK
Phua
†Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York 10027, New York, United States.
Kam W
KW
Leong
D000818:Animals; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004337:Drug Carriers; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*
D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D004337:Drug Carriers
SELEX; aptamer; cancer therapy; clinical trial; drug delivery; gene therapy; in vivo imaging; nanomedicine