RESUMO
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer among white people, according to the World Health Organisation. The incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers has increased to epidemic levels, making them the most widespread type of skin cancer. Melanoma is a very aggressive form of cancer, characterized by limited treatment choices due to multidrug resistance and an extremely low probability of patient survival. This article explores the various impediments and limitations associated with conventionally available treatments. Chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy are among the conventional treatments for melanoma; however, each of these approaches has several adverse reactions. Recently, there has been a focus on biological and pharmacological research on developing alternative, site-specific therapy approaches. Nanotechnology offers several benefits in this regard, with the potential to enhance the longevity of melanoma patients while minimizing adverse effects. Nanoparticles serve as effective drug carrier systems due to their capacity to improve the solubility of medications with low water solubility, modify pharmacokinetics, prolong drug half-life by reducing immunogenicity, boost bioavailability, and decrease drug metabolism. This article highlights recent advancements in utilizing several nanotechnological techniques, including solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, liposomes, transferosomes, ethosomes, and nanoemulsion polymeric mixed micelles.
RESUMO
Cancer is one of the most complicated and prevalent diseases in the world, and its incidence is growing worldwide. Natural products containing pharmacological activity are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, especially in anticancer drugs, due to their diverse structures and distinctive functional groups that inspire new drug results by means of synthetic chemistry. Terrestrial medicinal plants have traditionally been the primary source for developing natural products (NPs). However, over the past thirty years, marine organisms such as invertebrates, plants, algae, and bacteria have revealed many new pharmaceutical compounds known as marine NPs. This field constantly evolves as a discipline in molecular targeted drug discovery, incorporating advanced screening tools that have revolutionised and become integral to modern antitumor research. This review discusses recent studies on new natural anticancer alkaloids obtained from marine organisms. The paper illustrates the structure and origin of marine alkaloids and demonstrates the cytotoxic action of new alkaloids from several structural families and their synthetic analogs. The most recent findings about the potential or development of some of them as novel medications, together with the status of our understanding of their current mechanisms of action, are also compiled.