Micro-fragmented adipose tissue as a natural scaffold for targeted drug delivery in brain cancer

Salagean, Alex, Nechifor-Boila, Adela, Bajwa, Nosherwan, Pastorello, Ylenia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3833-0184 and Slevin, Mark ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3767-4861 (2023) Micro-fragmented adipose tissue as a natural scaffold for targeted drug delivery in brain cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24 (14). 11530. ISSN 1661-6596

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Abstract

Major limitations in the effective treatment of neurological cancer include systemic cytotoxicity of chemotherapy, inaccessibility, and inoperability. The capability to successfully target a drug to the tumor site(s) without incurring serious side effects—especially in the case of aggressive tumors, such as glioblastoma and neuroblastoma—would represent a significant breakthrough in therapy. Orthotopic systems, capable of storing and releasing proteins over a prolonged period at the site of a tumor, that utilize nanoparticles, liposomes, and hydrogels have been proposed. One candidate for drug delivery is Micro-Fragmented Adipose Tissue (MFAT). Easily obtained from the patient by abdominal subcutaneous liposuction (autologous), and with a high content of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), mechanically derived nanofat is a natural tissue graft with a structural scaffold organization. It has a well-preserved stromal vascular fraction and a prolonged capacity to secrete anti-tumorigenic concentrations of pre-absorbed chemotherapeutics within extracellular vesicles. This review discusses current evidence supporting the potential of drug-modified MFAT for the treatment of neurological cancer with respect to recent preclinical and in vitro studies. Possible limitations and future perspectives are considered.