Preclinical Findings for Targeted Nanotherapies to Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered a major ailment throughoutthe world, and conventional therapies including chemo and combinational have suboptimalresponses with toxicity and adverse effects. The use of conventional methodsbecomes challenging, especially when the tumor cells adapt resistance rapidly, whichfurther limits their use. Nanotherapeutics for HCC show their potential with minimaltoxicity and enhanced degree of targeted drug delivery, which has attracted researchersacross the world to explore the various benefits of nanotherapeutics. This chapter hasbriefly covered the epidemiology and incidence of HCC, its causes, stages, differentways to diagnose HCC, its pathology, and conventional treatment options. We haveexplained various targeted nanotherapeutic preclinical approaches such as lipidicnanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, and liposomes for HCC. Surface-modifiednanoparticles and liposomes can actively target a wide array of overexpressed receptorson the tumor surface. It can be seen from the literature that the nanotherapeuticapproach for the management of HCC has a high potential to become the mainstreamtreatment 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 inthe tumors, while not affecting the normal cells. These remarkable outcomes furtherstrengthen the nanotherapeutic platform, showcasing its true potential.