Nanomedicine advancements target glioblastoma and blood-brain barrier

Researchers are developing advanced nanomedicine platforms to combat glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer characterized by a low five-year survival rate and the ability to infiltrate healthy tissue. A primary obstacle in treating this cancer is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents most therapeutic drugs from reaching tumor sites at effective concentrations.

A collaborative study published in the Chinese Neurosurgical Journal explores the use of stimuli-responsive and biomimetic nanomedicines designed to cross the BBB and the blood-brain tumor barrier (BBTB). These technologies aim to provide more precise drug delivery to both the tumor core and infiltrative margins.

In a separate development published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers from the University of Technology Sydney, Harvard, and Henan universities have engineered a ‘double punch’ nanozyme platform. This single material utilizes a two-dimensional sheet of individually positioned atoms to serve two functions: acting as a precise imaging guide for surgeons during operations and providing targeted phototherapy to destroy remaining cancer cells after surgery.