TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lee, Beom-Jin
AU  - Kanaan, Manal Hadi Ghaffoori
AU  - Abdullah, Sura Saad
AU  - Ghasemian, Abdolmajid
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/08/18
TI  - Plant-Derived Nanoparticles in Cancer Therapy: A Comprehensive Review of Recent Advances and Future Prospects
JO  - OBM Genetics
SP  - 308
VL  - 09
IS  - 03
AB  - Cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of global death, and conventional therapies have limited efficacy because of their toxicity, drug resistance, and off-target effects. Plant-derived nanoparticles (PDNPs) have emerged as suitable alternatives as they have biocompatibility, biodegradability, and multifunctional therapy. In this review, we discussed the recent advancements in PDNPs for cancer therapy, including the green synthesis of PDNPs using phytochemical (flavonoids, terpenoids) reducing and capping agents, subsequent physicochemical characterization, and mechanisms of action. PDNPs take advantage of passive targeting via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, and active targeting through ligand-receptor targeting (folate, estrogen receptors). PDNPs also utilize features of the tumor microenvironment (TME) (acidic pH, redox imbalance, protease overexpression, etc.) to mediate stimuli-responsive drug release. PDNPs have potent anticancer activity by inducing apoptosis via ROS generation and mitochondrial dysfunction, regulating immune responses (repolarizing tumor-associated macrophages), and reducing metastasis by inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Various PDNP platforms from metallic nanoparticles (Au, Ag, ZnO), to plant virus nanoparticles (TMV, CPMV), to polymeric/lipid carriers promote effective delivery of chemotherapeutics, phytocompounds (curcumin, quercetin), and gene-editing technologies (CRISPR/Cas9). Despite their better biosafety and selective cytotoxicity, challenges remain with scalability, pharmacokinetics, and long-term toxicity, and all these will need to be further addressed. Future opportunities are anticipated in AI-assisted design, utilizing CRISPR integration for precision gene editing, and developing tailored PDNP formulation strategies unique to the tumor's molecular profile (precision medicine). PDNPs would be a disruptive, sustainable delivery vehicle for conventional therapies and represent a transformative surface-initiated approach that would certainly advance cancer nanomedicine and could symbolize the necessary shift in the current paradigm.
SN  - 2577-5790
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.genet.2503308
DO  - 10.21926/obm.genet.2503308
ID  - Lee2025
ER  -