Cancer treatment encompasses a broad array of therapeutic strategies—including chemotherapy, targeted molecular therapies, and immunotherapy—designed to selectively eliminate or inhibit malignant cells. Plants are a foundational source of many cancer-fighting compounds, from the alkaloids of Catharanthus roseus that gave rise to vinca drugs, to the taxanes derived from yew trees, making plant biochemistry central to drug discovery. Understanding how plants biosynthesize these secondary metabolites opens pathways to engineering more efficient, sustainable production of life-saving pharmaceuticals.
Researchers engineered a wearable patch that uses nanoparticles derived from medicinal plants to deliver a chemotherapy drug and genetic regulators directly to aggressive breast cancer tumors, improving targeting precision while reducing toxic side effects.
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Plant-derived exosomes acted as biocompatible carriers, enabling cascade tumor targeting that concentrated the drug payload at the tumor site rather than throughout the body
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Combining plant exosomes, miRNA gene regulators, and cisplatin chemotherapy produced a synergistic anti-tumor effect greater than any single agent alone
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The microneedle wearable platform demonstrated high safety in models of triple-negative breast cancer, a subtype that currently has very limited targeted treatment options
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