Review Article

An Update on Novel Therapeutic Warfronts of Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) in Cancer Treatment: Where We Are Standing Right Now and Where to Go in the Future

Table 1

Various EVs used as a drug delivery vehicle in disease treatment.

Serial no.EV typeLoaded drugDisease typeRemarksReferences

1DEXAFPα-FetoproteinHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)Improved tumor microenvironment, elevated CD8+ T lymphocytes expressing IFN-γ[112]

2miR-34c-5p-loaded exosomemiR-34c-5pAcute myeloid leukemia (AML)Downregulated miR-34c-5p, regulates its own expression by targeting RAB27B through positive feedback[113]

3(i) Doxorubicin-loaded breast cancer-derived exosomes (ExoDOX)(i) DoxorubicinBreast cancerExoDOX are more stable and tolerable compared to free drug cardiotoxicity[114]
(ii) IRGD-exos(ii) DoxorubicinThe loaded specific IRGD-exos efficiently targeted αv integrin-positive breast cancer cells in vitro, showed slower tumor growth[115]
(iii) miR-let-7a-loaded GE11-positive exosome-dependent EFGR(iii) miR-let-7aLoaded exosome binds to PDGF receptor transmembrane domain of EFGR, causes tumor growth inhibition[111]
(iv) Tea polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate- (EGCG-) loaded exosomes(iv) EGCGDecrease in CSF-1 and CCL2 tumor growth factor-associated macrophages (M2), increased activity of tumor-inhibiting macrophage phenotype (M1), upregulation of miR-16[116]

4Macrophage-derived exosomes loaded with paclitaxel (exoPTX)PaclitaxelMultiple Drug Resistance (MDR) cancerIncreased drug toxicity by bypassing drug efflux transporter-mediated resistance mechanisms, decreased metastasis growth[117]

5(i) Loaded exosomes from brain endothelial cell line bEND.3(i) Rhodamine, doxorubicin, and paclitaxelGlioblastomaDoxorubicin-loaded exosome showed higher activity and much reduction in tumor size in the brain of zebrafish[118]
(ii) Mesenchymal cell derived-exosomes loaded with anti-miR-9(ii) Temozolomide (TMZ)Reversion of multidrug transporter expression, sensitize cells to TMZ, increase caspase activity and cell death[119]

6Catalase loaded monocyte-derived exosomes (ExoCAT)CatalaseParkinson’s disease (PD)The exosomes prevented mononuclear phagocytic entrapment of drug[120]

7DC-derived Lamp2b fusion exosomessiRNA against BACE1Alzheimer’s diseaseLoaded exosomes expressed RVG surface peptide and actively targeted neuronal cells and specific gene silencing activity in targeted neurons[111]

8Pancreatic cancer cell-derived exosomesCurcuminPancreatic cancerInduced apoptosis[121]

9Curcumin-loaded exosomes (CUR-EXO)CurcuminMicroglial cell inflammationInflammation reduced after 2 h, enhanced apoptosis. Intranasal administration caused inflammation-induced autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice[122]