Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Cervical Cancer
Summary
Cervical cancer remains a major global health challenge, particularly in resource-limited regions where screening and vaccination programmes are unevenly implemented. Conventional chemotherapy often suffers from off-target toxicity, limited tumour accumulation and the emergence of drug resistance. Nanoparticle-based delivery systems offer a transformative approach by encapsulating cytotoxic agents, genetic payloads or photosensitizers within lipid, polymeric, metal or hybrid nanostructures. These carriers can exploit the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect at tumour sites, achieve active targeting through ligands such as folate or peptides, and respond to internal stimuli (pH, redox potential) or external triggers (light, temperature). Advances include multifunctional platforms that combine chemotherapy with photodynamic or photothermal therapy, co-delivery of siRNA to silence resistance pathways, and mucoadhesive hydrogels for intravaginal administration to sustain local drug release. Collectively, these innovations aim to maximise therapeutic indices, overcome multidrug resistance and enable personalised treatment regimens for women with cervical malignancies.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Cervical Cancer publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for cervical cancer across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect: Passive accumulation of nanoparticles in tumour tissue due to leaky vasculature and poor lymphatic drainage.
Stimuli-responsive nanocarrier: A nanoparticle engineered to release its payload upon exposure to specific triggers such as pH change, redox environment or external energy (e.g. light).
Active targeting: Modification of nanoparticle surfaces with ligands (e.g. folate, antibodies) to bind selectively to receptors overexpressed on cancer cells.
Mucoadhesion: The ability of a formulation to adhere to mucosal surfaces, prolonging residence time and enhancing local drug concentration.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT): Treatment modality that uses a photosensitiser activated by light to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species in tumour tissue.
References
- (Nano)biotechnological approaches in the treatment of cervical cancer: integration of engineering and biology. Frontiers in Immunology (2024).
- Drug Delivery Approaches for the Treatment of Cervical Cancer. Pharmaceutics (2016).
- Enhanced Antiproliferative Effect of Carboplatin in Cervical Cancer Cells Utilizing Folate-Grafted Polymeric Nanoparticles. Discover Nano (2015).
- Recent Trends in Nanocarrier‐Based Targeted Chemotherapy: Selective Delivery of Anticancer Drugs for Effective Lung, Colon, Cervical, and Breast Cancer Treatment. Journal of Nanomaterials (2020).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.