Folic acid modified precision nanocarriers: charting new frontiers in breast cancer management beyond conventional therapies

Abstract

Breast cancer presents a significant global health challenge, ranking highest incidence rate among all types of cancers. Functionalised nanocarriers offer a promising solution for precise drug delivery by actively targeting cancer cells through specific receptors, notably folate receptors. By overcoming the limitations of passive targeting in conventional therapies, this approach holds the potential for enhanced treatment efficacy through combination therapy. Encouraging outcomes from studies like in vitro and in vivo, underscore the promise of this innovative approach. This review explores the therapeutic potential of FA (Folic acid) functionalised nanocarriers tailored for breast cancer management, discussing various chemical modification techniques for functionalization. It examines FA-conjugated nanocarriers containing chemotherapeutics to enhance treatment efficacy and addresses the pharmacokinetic aspect of these functionalised nanocarriers. Additionally, the review integrates active targeting via folic acid with theranostics, photothermal therapy, and photodynamic therapy, offering a comprehensive management strategy. Emphasising rigorous experimental validation for practical utility, the review underscores the need to bridge laboratory research to clinical application. While these functionalised nanocarriers show promise, their credibility and applicability in real-world settings necessitate thorough validation for effective clinical use.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Breast cancer
• active targeting
• folate receptors
• functionalised nanocarriers
• combination therapy

Acknowledgements

The authors would also like to acknowledge the DST FIST program of the Department of Pharmaceutics, located within the School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (SPER) at Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi-110062. The authors would also like to acknowledge Biorender ‘Created by Biorender.com’ for providing access to their platform through a free trial version for the figure illustrated in the review.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author wishes to express gratitude to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, for the generous provision of the DST-PURSE fellowship to the first author (reference file no. AS/Fellow (DST)/JH-62/2023).