A Summarized View of Lipid, Polyplex, Inorganic, and Carbon-Based Nanotherapeutics for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment

Liver cancer is one of the primary causes of global cancer deaths after lung cancer and colorectal cancer. In 2021, an estimated 42,230 new liver cancer cases will be diagnosed, and approximately 30 thousand people will die of these cancers in the United States alone. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) alone accounts for nearly 75% of all liver cancers. Early detection of HCC enables multiple treatment choices resulting in improved therapeutic outcomes. Unfortunately, most HCC cases are typically diagnosed at advanced stages, resulting in poor survival. Among various treatment modalities, chemotherapy remains the mainstay, particularly for treating advanced patients. However, the major drawback of conventional chemotherapeutics is the lack of cancer cell selectivity, leading to significant damage to healthy tissues. These challenges can be circumvented with the help of targeted nanotherapeutics containing anticancer drugs. These nanotherapeutics are increasingly favored over their conventional counterparts due to their specific cancer cell targeting with low off-target effects. Therefore, in this book chapter, we focus on different types of nanocarriers to treat hepatocellular carcinoma. Furthermore, current nanotherapeutics in clinical trials and the future perspective of nanomedicine in liver cancer are discussed.