Can arsenic do anything good? Arsenic nanodrugs in the fight against cancer – last decade review

• Published in: Talanta (Oxford) 2024-08, Vol.276, p.126240, Article 126240
• Main Authors: Komorowicz, Izabela, Hanć, Anetta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Arsenic; Arsenic - pharmacology; Arsenic - therapeutic use; Arsenic trioxide; Arsenic Trioxide - pharmacology; Arsenic Trioxide - therapeutic use; ATO; Cancer; Humans; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Neoplasms - drug therapy; NPs
• ISSN: 0039-9140; 1873-3573; 1873-3573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126240

Arsenic has been an element of great interest among scientists for many years as it is a widespread metalloid in our ecosystem. Arsenic is mostly recognized with negative connotations due to its toxicity. Surely, most of us know that a long time ago, arsenic trioxide was used in medicine to treat, mainly, skin diseases. However, not everyone knows about its very wide and promising use in the treatment of cancer. Initially, in the seventies, it was used to treat leukemia, but new technological possibilities and the development of nanotechnology have made it possible to use arsenic trioxide for the treatment of solid tumours. The most toxic arsenic compound – arsenic trioxide - as the basis of anticancer drugs in which they function as a component of nanoparticles is used in the fight against various types of cancer. This review aims to present the current solutions in various cancer treatment using arsenic compounds with different binding motifs and methods of preparation to create targeted nanoparticles, nanodiamonds, nanohybrids, nanodrugs, or nanovehicles. [Display omitted] •Arsenic in cancer treatment from last decade.•Arsenic compounds with different binding motifs.•Arsenic nanodrugs characteristic.•Application of arsenic nanodrugs for the cancer treatment.