Nanotechnological Approaches in Prostate Cancer Therapy: Integration of engineering and biology

Nanocarriers have received special attention in biomedicine for the treatment of various diseases, especially cancer, as one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Nanocarriers can improve the potential of contemporary strategies in cancer therapy and also provide new methods for diagnosis and biosensing. The present review focuses on the biomedical application of nanocarriers in the treatment of prostate cancer (PCa), one of the most common urological cancers in men. The chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic potentials in PCa may be improved using nanocarriers by providing targeted drug delivery and inducing PCa cells' sensitivity via induction of cell death. Delivery of nucleic acid drugs such as siRNA, shRNA and CRISPR/Cas9 system by nanocarriers in PCa therapy enhances the intracellular accumulation of these therapeutics and increases their efficacy in gene expression regulation. The high proliferation rate and metastasis of PCa cells result in poor prognosis. They may be dually suppressed by nanocarriers, as nanoplatforms facilitate co-delivery of drugs and gene therapeutics in PCa suppression. Selectivity toward PCa cells may be enhanced via surface modification of the nanocarriers to facilitate internalization via endocytosis. In addition to their applications for PCa treatment, nanocarriers mediate the detection of biomarkers for PCa diagnosis.