TITLE:
Drug-Based Reversal of Drug Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Using TPGS
AUTHORS:
Feng Xue, Ligong Lu
KEYWORDS:
HCC, TPGS, MDR, P-gp
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
20,
2024
ABSTRACT: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a cancer with high incidence and mortality rates worldwide. In the various treatment methods for HCC, the lack of cancer cell specificity and the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) are two major obstacles in the treatment of HCC. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is an ATP-dependent drug efflux pump that can reduce the accumulation of drugs in cells and make cancer cells acquire drug resistance. D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate (Vitamin E TPGS or TPGS) can inhibit the activity of ATP-dependent P-gp and serves as an effective excipient for overcoming tumor multidrug resistance (MDR). TPGS has been approved by the FDA as a safe adjuvant and is widely used in drug delivery systems. The biological and physicochemical properties of TPGS provide multiple advantages for its application in drug delivery, such as high biocompatibility, enhanced drug solubility, improved drug permeation, and selective antitumor activity. In recent years, more and more studies have found that using TPGS-modified nanomaterials to load chemotherapy drugs to treat tumors can effectively reverse the drug resistance of tumors, including HCC. This review summarizes and discusses the role of TPGS in reversing tumor drug resistance and the therapeutic effects of TPGS-based drugs on drug-resistant HCC.