Integrating Precision Medicine with Nanotechnology to Overcome Drug Resistance in Cancer

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Methods and Technologies Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1095

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Science, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Interests: drug resistance; ABC transporters; natural products; nanomaterials; tyrosine kinase inhibitors
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Integrating precision medicine with nanotechnology offers a transformative approach to overcoming drug resistance in cancer, a major challenge in oncology. Precision medicine tailors treatments to a patient's unique genetic, molecular, and environmental profile, enabling targeted therapies that address specific cancer characteristics. However, drug resistance often undermines these efforts, as cancer cells adapt to evade therapies. Nanotechnology enhances precision medicine by delivering drugs with unprecedented accuracy, using nanoparticles to target cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Novel nanoscale carriers can also enable gene-editing-based therapy, bypass resistance mechanisms, and enhance therapeutic efficacy. Additionally, nanoparticles can co-deliver multiple drugs or combine therapeutics with imaging agents, facilitating real-time monitoring and personalized treatment adjustments. This Special Issue brings together cutting-edge research and perspectives on how this synergistic approach can transform cancer treatment by merging nanotechnology's precision delivery with genomic insights from precision medicine.

Dr. Yan Li
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • precision medicine
  • nanotechnology
  • drug resistance

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

37 pages, 2934 KB  
Review
Nanoparticle-Based Delivery Strategies for Combating Drug Resistance in Cancer Therapeutics
by Seohyun Park, Guo-Liang Lu, Yi-Chao Zheng, Emma K. Davison and Yan Li
Cancers 2025, 17(16), 2628; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17162628 - 11 Aug 2025
Viewed by 957
Abstract
Multidrug resistance (MDR) remains a formidable barrier to successful cancer treatment, driven by mechanisms such as efflux pump overexpression, enhanced DNA repair, evasion of apoptosis and the protective characteristics of the tumour microenvironment. Nanoparticle-based delivery systems have emerged as promising platforms capable of [...] Read more.
Multidrug resistance (MDR) remains a formidable barrier to successful cancer treatment, driven by mechanisms such as efflux pump overexpression, enhanced DNA repair, evasion of apoptosis and the protective characteristics of the tumour microenvironment. Nanoparticle-based delivery systems have emerged as promising platforms capable of addressing these challenges by enhancing intracellular drug accumulation, enabling targeted delivery and facilitating stimuli-responsive and controlled release. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying MDR and critically examines recent advances in nanoparticle strategies developed to overcome it. Various nanoparticle designs are analysed in terms of their structural and functional features, including surface modifications, active targeting ligands and responsiveness to tumour-specific cues. Particular emphasis is placed on the co-delivery of chemotherapeutic agents with gene regulators, such as siRNA, and the use of nanoparticles to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tools as a means of re-sensitising resistant cancer cells. While significant progress has been made in preclinical settings, challenges such as tumour heterogeneity, limited clinical translation and immune clearance remain. Future directions include the integration of precision nanomedicine, scalable manufacturing and non-viral genome editing platforms. Collectively, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems offer a multifaceted approach to combat MDR and hold great promise for improving therapeutic outcomes in resistant cancers. Full article
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