NANO-NUTRACEUTICALS FOR CANCER PREVENTION: BRIDGING NANOTECHNOLOGY, FUNCTIONAL FOODS, AND ONCOLOGY

Abstract

The prevention of cancer has become a major part of oncological strategies around the globe as there is an increasing awareness that a number of cancers can be prevented by modifying lifestyle and environmental factors. Diet-based interventions with nutraceuticals and functional foods have received significant attention among them because they are safe, readily available, and multi-targeted biologically. Nonetheless, the clinical application of nutraceuticals in cancer prevention has been hampered by low bioavailability, low stability, rapid metabolism and uneven tissue delivery. Nanotechnology is a potent remedy of such dilemmas because the application of nanotechnology allows the rational development of delivery systems that can improve the functional activity of bioactive food-derived compounds. This review discusses the new area of nano-nutraceuticals in the prevention of cancer in which nanotechnology can be used to fill a gap between nutrition science and oncology to overcome major obstacles in translation. We also cover the key groups of chemopreventative nutraceuticals, such as polyphenols, carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and bioactive peptides, and review the enhanced nano-delivery methodologies, such as lipid-based nanoparticles, polymer-based nanocarriers and nano emulsions prepared with food-grade and biocompatible materials. The review also covers the translational and clinical points of view, such as evaluations of the preclinical models and the initial human trials, along with the opportunities of personalized and precision prevention measures based on nutrigenomics and microbiome profiling. Controversies such as regulatory, ethical and safety issues concerning long-term exposure to the nano-enabled functional foods are viewed acutely, as well as the issues of scaling and popular acceptance. Through a combination of nanotechnology, functional food science and oncology, this paper highlights the promise of nano-nutraceuticals in redefining diet-based cancer prevention and as a part of population-based preventive healthcare paradigms.