Herbal bioactive encapsulated nano-formulations for the treatment of gastric cancer: a concise review

Abstract Gastric cancer is a prominent cause of death globally. The major risk factors responsible for its development include age, H. pylori infection, excessive salt intake, and lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet. It is diagnosed using ultrasound, CT scan, endoscopic biopsy, and by detection of certain biomarkers. The conventional therapies for treatment of gastric cancer include the use of radiations, surgical resection, and chemotherapy. However, there are certain major issues associated with these treatments, like high risk of tumour reoccurrence, drug resistance development, less bioavailability of the drug at target site, rapid drug metabolism and high systemic toxicity due to drug doses. All such limitations of conventional treatments can be overcome with the use of herbal bio-actives as they exhibit less toxicity to normal healthy cells and reduce the risk of tumour recurrence and resistance development. Nano-formulations are developed to aid in targeted drug delivery, and to enhance the solubility, stability, bioavailability, and therapeutic efficacy of phytoconstituents. With the emergence of nanomaterials, different imaging modalities have been integrated into one single platform, and combined therapies with synergetic effects against gastric cancer were established. Moreover, the development of theragnostic strategies with simultaneous diagnostic and therapeutic ability was boosted by multifunctional nanoparticles. The present review discusses about the gastric cancer including its mortality rate, secular trends, pathophysiology, etiology, risk factors, diagnosis, and different treatment approaches with major emphasis on herbal bioactives (quercetin, paclitaxel, resveratrol, curcumin and ginsenosides) and different herbal constituent encapsulated nano-formulations (such as nanoparticles, niosomes, liposomes, nano-emulsion, and micelles). Challenges and future prospects of herbal bioactive encapsulated nano-formulations for the treatment/management of gastric cancers has been included in the later part of the manuscript.