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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Translational Pharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1478394
This article is part of the Research Topic Pharmaceutical Biomaterials View all 17 articles

Hydrogel-based formulations for urothelial cancer therapy

Provisionally accepted
Mingyang Chang Mingyang Chang Changliang Chi Changliang Chi Zuozhu Zheng Zuozhu Zheng Ming Zhang Ming Zhang Jianing Lv Jianing Lv Xiaoqing Wang Xiaoqing Wang *
  • the first hospital of jilin university, Changchun, Hebei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Drug infusion therapy after surgery for urothelial carcinoma is an effective measure to reduce cancer recurrence rate. Hydrogels are drug carriers with good biocompatibility and high drug loading capacity, which can optimize the pharmacokinetics of drugs in the urinary system to improve the therapeutic effect. Compared with the traditional free drug in situ perfusion, the hydrogel drug loading system can still maintain effective drug concentration in the face of continuous urinary flushing due to its good mucosal adhesion effect. The significantly prolonged drug retention time can not only improve the therapeutic effect of drugs, but also reduce the discomfort and risk of urinary tract infections caused by frequent drug infusion, and improve patient compliance. In addition, the combination of hydrogel with nanoparticles and magnetic materials can also improve the mucosal permeability and targeting effect of the hydrogel drug loading system, so as to overcome the mucus layer of urinary epithelium and the physiological barrier of tumor and minimize the impact on normal tissue and cell functions. At present, the research of hydrogels for urothelial cancer treatment involves chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, inhibition of metabolism and multi strategy synergistic therapy. This review summarizes the research progress of hydrogels for the treatment of urothelial carcinoma, hoping to provide a reference for the future research of safe, reliable, effective, and advanced hydrogels with little side effects.

    Keywords: Hydrogel, urothelial cancer, Bladder cancer, drug, delivery, therapy

    Received: 09 Aug 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chang, Chi, Zheng, Zhang, Lv and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xiaoqing Wang, the first hospital of jilin university, Changchun, Hebei Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.