Chitosan Nanoparticles for Therapy and Theranostics of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and Liver-Targeting

Chitosan nanoparticles are well-known delivery systems widely used as polymeric carriers
in the field of nanomedicine. Chitosan is a carbohydrate of natural origin: it is a biodegradable,
biocompatible, mucoadhesive, polycationic polymer and it is endowed with penetration enhancer
properties. Furthermore, it can be easily derivatized. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents
a remarkable health problem because current therapies, that include surgery, liver transplantation,
trans-arterial embolization, chemoembolization and chemotherapy, present significant limitations
due to the high risk of recurrence, to a lack of drug selectivity and to other serious side effects.
Therefore, there is the need for new therapeutic strategies and for improving the liver-targeting to
HCC. Nanomedicine consists in the use of nanoscale carriers as delivery systems to target and deliver
drugs and/or diagnostic agents to specific organs or tissues. Chitosan and its derivatives can be
successfully used in the preparation of nanoparticles that, for their peculiar surface-properties, can
specifically interact with liver tumor, by passive and active targeting. This review concerns the use of
chitosan nanoparticles for the therapy and theranostics of HCC and liver-targeting.