Nanotechnology has enormous potential for overcoming the limitations of traditional therapeutics. Nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology have emerged as the most promising strategies for controlled and targeted drug delivery in recent decades. Nanomedicine has several clinical advantages due to the unique physicochemical and biological properties of nanoscale matter, such as targeted delivery, reduced adverse side effects, enhanced anti-inflammatory, improved bioavailability and stability, prolonged plasma exposure, and so on. For these considerations, multiple types of nanomedicine have been developed and have demonstrated significant promise in disease diagnosis and treatment, such as drug-resistant infections, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, hepatitis, cardiovascular disease, systemic inflammatory disorders et al. Recently, there are increasing demands for further clinical trials that are based on nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology.
The application of nanosystems for drug/gene delivery is one of the areas that are attracting the greatest attention. Nanomedicine-based therapeutic strategies take advantage of the small size and tunable physicochemical properties of nanomaterials that enable smart delivery, e.g. specific delivery to target cells or tissues, and controlled release of therapeutic agents. Therapeutic applications of nanomedicine with great promise include the treatment of diseases, in particular treatment of cancer, based on the potential to deliver therapeutic agents (drugs or genes) to specific sites/targets (tissues or cells) within the patient’s body. Among those nanosystems, smart targeting/delivery approaches are of great value, and in this research area, an important research field is “synergistic combination therapy”. Compared with monotherapy, combination therapy (combining several treatments into one single nanoplatform) could be more effective in the enhancement of cancer therapy by achieving synergistic effects and reducing toxicity. Furthermore, nanotechnology can amplify therapeutic effects by regulating the biological fate of nanomedicine and improving biodistribution and release kinetics. Therefore, the design and application of novel nanomedicine with synergistic combination therapy have been extensively investigated.
The goal of this issue is to further investigate novel nanomedicine that exhibits better therapeutic outcomes for cancer treatment, especially via a synergistic combination therapy approach. To achieve this, efforts should be focused on the development of novel nanosystems, the optimization of the combined treatment design, and the investigation of mechanisms of the synergistic combination therapy.
Authors are encouraged to submit both reviews and original articles associated with this special issue. The topic includes, but is not limited to, the following research areas:
• Design and evaluation of novel nano systems for disease treatment.
• Nanomedicine for combination and synergistic therapies.
• Intracellular synergistic interactions of drug-nanomaterial combinations.
Nanotechnology has enormous potential for overcoming the limitations of traditional therapeutics. Nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology have emerged as the most promising strategies for controlled and targeted drug delivery in recent decades. Nanomedicine has several clinical advantages due to the unique physicochemical and biological properties of nanoscale matter, such as targeted delivery, reduced adverse side effects, enhanced anti-inflammatory, improved bioavailability and stability, prolonged plasma exposure, and so on. For these considerations, multiple types of nanomedicine have been developed and have demonstrated significant promise in disease diagnosis and treatment, such as drug-resistant infections, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, hepatitis, cardiovascular disease, systemic inflammatory disorders et al. Recently, there are increasing demands for further clinical trials that are based on nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology.
The application of nanosystems for drug/gene delivery is one of the areas that are attracting the greatest attention. Nanomedicine-based therapeutic strategies take advantage of the small size and tunable physicochemical properties of nanomaterials that enable smart delivery, e.g. specific delivery to target cells or tissues, and controlled release of therapeutic agents. Therapeutic applications of nanomedicine with great promise include the treatment of diseases, in particular treatment of cancer, based on the potential to deliver therapeutic agents (drugs or genes) to specific sites/targets (tissues or cells) within the patient’s body. Among those nanosystems, smart targeting/delivery approaches are of great value, and in this research area, an important research field is “synergistic combination therapy”. Compared with monotherapy, combination therapy (combining several treatments into one single nanoplatform) could be more effective in the enhancement of cancer therapy by achieving synergistic effects and reducing toxicity. Furthermore, nanotechnology can amplify therapeutic effects by regulating the biological fate of nanomedicine and improving biodistribution and release kinetics. Therefore, the design and application of novel nanomedicine with synergistic combination therapy have been extensively investigated.
The goal of this issue is to further investigate novel nanomedicine that exhibits better therapeutic outcomes for cancer treatment, especially via a synergistic combination therapy approach. To achieve this, efforts should be focused on the development of novel nanosystems, the optimization of the combined treatment design, and the investigation of mechanisms of the synergistic combination therapy.
Authors are encouraged to submit both reviews and original articles associated with this special issue. The topic includes, but is not limited to, the following research areas:
• Design and evaluation of novel nano systems for disease treatment.
• Nanomedicine for combination and synergistic therapies.
• Intracellular synergistic interactions of drug-nanomaterial combinations.
