Title:The Impediments of Cancer Stem Cells and An Exploration into the Nanomedical
Solutions for Glioblastoma
Volume: 23
Issue: 4
Author(s): Harshil Jain*, Priyal Dhawan, Sahana Rao, Nikita Lalwani and Harshita Shand
Affiliation:
- Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India
Keywords:
Glioblastoma, nanomedicine, cancer stem cells, nanoparticles, AML, neural stem cells.
Abstract: Glioblastoma is an aggressive and recurrent tumour that affects our brain and spinal cord with an extensively
poor prognosis and death of the patient within 14-15 months of diagnosis. The tumour originates from astrocytes and
therefore comes under the glioma known as astrocytoma. These tumours exhibit miscellaneous properties and contain
cancer stem cells (CSCs). The stem cells exhibit diverse mechanisms through which these cells indulge in the proliferation
and renewal of their systems. CSCs pose a significant obstacle as far as a cancer therapy is concerned, which
incorporates blocking important signalling pathways involved in CSCs’ self-renewal and survival which may also
include inhibition of the ATP-binding cassette transporters. Nanomedicine, biomarkers and drug delivery technologybased
approaches using nanoparticles have tremendous ability to tackle the restrictions impending clinical applications,
such as diagnosis and targeting of CSC-specific agents. Nanocarrier-based therapeutic agents have shown the potential
of penetrating CSCs and increasing drug accumulation in CSCs. Nanomedicine can overcome ATP-driven pumpmediated
multidrug resistance while also reducing the harmful effects on non-cancerous cells. The objective of this
review is to examine the advantages of nanomedicine and the innovative approaches that have been explored to address
the challenges presented by CSCs in order to control the progression of glioblastomas by developing novel nanotherapeutic
interventions which target CSCs.