Abstract:
Globally, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths is colon cancer. As this form of
cancer has a tremendous potential to metastasize, effective treatment is complicated and
sometimes impossible. Despite the improvement of conventional chemotherapy and the
advent of targeted therapies, overcoming multi-drug resistance (MDR) and side effects remain
significant challenges. As a therapeutic intervention for targeted gene silencing in cancer, RNA
technology shows promise and certain RNA-based formulations are currently undergoing
clinical studies. Various studies have reported that RNA-based nanoparticles have
demonstrated substantial promise for targeted medication delivery, gene therapy, and other
biomedical applications. However, using RNA as a therapeutic tool presents severe limitations,
mainly related to its low stability and poor cellular uptake. Nanotechnology offers a flexible and
tailored alternative due to the difficulties in delivering naked RNA molecules safely in vivo, such
as their short half-lives, low chemical stability, and susceptibility to nuclease degradation. In
addition to shielding RNA molecules from immune system attacks and enzymatic breakdown,
the nanoparticle-based delivery systems allow RNA accumulation at the tumor site. The
potential of RNA and RNA-associated nanomedicines for the treatment of colon cancer, as well
as the prospects for overcoming any difficulties related to mRNA, are reviewed in this study,
along with the current progress of mRNA therapeutics and advancements in designing
nanomaterials and delivery strategies.
