Introduction: Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC) arises from oxidative stress induced by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, ongoing inflammation, and genetic mutations that promote cell growth. Mainstream treatment often faces challenges of recurrence and toxicity, highlighting the necessity for more targeted therapies. Incorporation of multiple drugs with advanced nanotechnology appears to emerge as a promising therapeutic approach.
Areas covered: This review analyses the effectiveness of multifactorial interventions for NMSC, addresses limitations with traditional treatments, highlighting how advanced technologies can overcome these challenges. The literature search was conducted through trusted databases to identify the included studies for systematically categorization, mechanistic understanding, formulation innovations and traditional relevance.
Expert opinion: This article examines the progress in nanogel-based systems for NMSC treatment over decades, emphasizing their adaptable design, stimulus responsiveness, and targeted drug delivery. These features enhance treatment effectiveness while reducing overall toxicity. It discusses a delivery system incorporating combinations of synthetic drugs and plant-derived compounds by means of nanogel as a carrier, demonstrating synergistic anti-tumor effects and improved safety profiles, making the treatment more potent, effective, and comprehensive. Despite positive outcomes in preclinical studies, significant translational challenges persist in formulation development and manufacturing, including drug-excipient compatibility, stability, reproducibility, scalability of nanogels and meeting regulatory standards.
Keywords: Combinatorial drug delivery; Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC); controlled drug release; nanogels; phytoconstituents; synthetic chemotherapeutics; targeted drug release; theranostic nanogels.
Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC) is the most common type of cancer worldwide, typically caused by sun damage, long-term skin inflammation, and genetic mutations. While standard treatments exist, they often come with harsh side effects and a high risk of the cancer returning, which has led scientist to develop a smarter approach using ‘nanogels.’ These are microscopic, flexible smart carriers that carry cancer medication directly to a tumor, releasing the medicine only when they detect specific environmental triggers in the cancer cells, like change in temperature. By delivering the drugs in combination, precisely where they are needed, nanogels can safely combine standard medical treatments with natural, plant derived compounds to aggressively fight the cancer while shielding the rest of the body from the toxic side effects. While this holistic approach has shown incredible promise in laboratory testing, researchers are still working through the engineering hurdles of manufacturing and regulatory of these nanogels safety, consistency, and on a large scale before they can be used in every medical clinic.