International Journal of Nanomedicine (Sep 2023)

Algae: A Robust Living Material Against Cancer

  • Xin Z,
  • Zhang M,
  • Cui H,
  • Ding X,
  • Zhang T,
  • Wu L,
  • Cui H,
  • Xue Q,
  • Chen C,
  • Gao J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 18
pp. 5243 – 5264

Abstract

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Zhongyuan Xin,1,2,* Mengya Zhang,2,* Hengqing Cui,3,* Xiuwen Ding,2,* Tinglin Zhang,2 Lili Wu,2 Haipo Cui,1 Qian Xue,2 Cuimin Chen,2 Jie Gao2 1School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Changhai Clinical Research Unit, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, ‎People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jie Gao; Cuimin Chen, Changhai Clinical Research Unit, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 21 31162092, Fax +86 21 31161111, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Its incidence has been increasing in recent years, and it is becoming a major threat to human health. Conventional cancer treatment strategies, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, have faced problems such as drug resistance, toxic side effects and unsatisfactory therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, better development and utilization of biomaterials can improve the specificity and efficacy of tumor therapy. Algae, as a novel living material, possesses good biocompatibility. Although some reviews have elucidated several algae-based biomaterials for cancer treatment, the majority of the literature has focused on a limited number of algae. As a result, there is currently a lack of comprehensive reviews on the subject of anticancer algae. This review aims to address this gap by conducting a thorough examination of algal species that show potential for anticancer activity. Furthermore, our review will also elucidate the engineering strategies of algae and discuss the challenges and prospects associated with their implementation.Keywords: algae, neoplasms, engineering strategies, biomaterials, anticancer mechanism

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