Preclinical Findings for Targeted Nanotherapies to Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered a major ailment throughout the world, and conventional therapies including chemo and combinational have suboptimal responses with toxicity and adverse effects. The use of conventional methods becomes challenging, especially when the tumor cells adapt resistance rapidly, which further limits their use. Nanotherapeutics for HCC show their potential with minimal toxicity and enhanced degree of targeted drug delivery, which has attracted researchers across the world to explore the various benefits of nanotherapeutics. This chapter has briefly covered the epidemiology and incidence of HCC, its causes, stages, different ways to diagnose HCC, its pathology, and conventional treatment options. We have explained various targeted nanotherapeutic preclinical approaches such as lipidic nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, and liposomes for HCC. Surface-modified nanoparticles and liposomes can actively target a wide array of overexpressed receptors on the tumor surface. It can be seen from the literature that the nanotherapeutic approach for the management of HCC has a high potential to become the mainstream treatment platform if explored and tweaked appropriately. In almost all the works, promising results were seen. Maximum amount of drug was delivered at the tumor site, drug release at unwanted sites were prevented and selectively caused cell necrosis in the tumors, while not affecting the normal cells. These remarkable outcomes further strengthen the nanotherapeutic platform, showcasing its true potential.