# New Achievements for the Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
## 3 Novel Approaches to Therapy in TNBC
### Nanoformulations and Nanobiosensors  
The current drugs used for BC treatment are associated with several limitations, such as poor oral bioavailability, non-selectivity and inadequate pharmacodynamics properties, which are critical factors to determine the efficacy of a drug. Nanoparticles (NPs) and nanomedicines may improve their bioavailability and specificity for cancer cells and diminish side effects. NPs are widely used in all areas of medicine and drug development, including oncology [125,126]. A review of targeted NPs for image-guided treatment of TNBC discussed subtypes, biomarkers and potential surface targets [127]. However, the therapeutic efficacy of nanoparticulate drugs is suppressed by a series of biological barriers. Nano-liposomes, which are lipid-based vesicles widely used for cancer diagnostics and targeted drug and gene delivery, have been studied for the treatment of TNBC, demonstrating that lipid composition, as well as concentration of nanoscale drug delivery systems, can be adjusted to modulate their cellular uptake [128]. An interesting study reported the synthesis of albumin-coated silver nanoparticles (ASNPs) and their anti-cancer effects against MDA-MB 231, suggesting them as good candidates as a chemotherapeutic drug [129]. Gold NPs have also been demonstrated to induce cell death in TNBC. Indeed, a recent work by [PERSON] et al. (2018) [130] describes the role of AuNPs in promoting oxidative stress in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells, together with anticancer effects depending  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Structure** & **Compound** & **Ref** \\ \hline HO & HN & \(S^{\prime}\)PPh\({}_{3}\) & **29** & [121] \\ NH\({}_{2}\) & NH\({}_{2}\) & **30–33** & [122] \\ \(\text{H}\text{N}\) & \(\text{H}_{\text{N}}\text{N}\) & \(\text{N}\text{H}_{2}\) & **34–38** & [123] \\ \(\text{R}\) & \(\text{N}\text{Ag}\text{-Cl}\) & **39,40** & [124] \\ \(\text{R}^{\prime}\) & \(\text{N}\text{Ag}\text{-Cl}\) & **39,40** & [124] \\ \(\text{R}^{\prime}\) & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 4: _Cont._on their different surface charges. Remarkably, AuNP treatment also makes MDA-MB-231 cells more responsive to 5-fluorouracilacil (5-FU). Recently, dasatinib was encapsulated in poly(styrene-co-maleic acid) (SMA) micelles, obtaining SMA-dasatinib NPs, which protects it from fast pharmacokinetic degradation in order to prolong its activity. It showed pronounced in vivo activity against TNBC cell lines compared to a hormone-sensitive cell line [131]. Among the nanoformulations, nanoemulsions (NEs) represent another effective therapeutic strategy for the encapsulation of anticancer drugs [132]. Recently, adelfosine, an alkyl-lysophospholipid, nanoemulsions, formulated with Miglyol 812 and phosphatidylcholine as excipients, reduced highly aggressive and invasive TNBC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo [133]. Considering the essential role of ROS as oncogene activators in TNBC, [PERSON] et al. (2018) [134] formulated ROS scavenging nitroxide radical-containing nanoparticles with interesting anticancer activity against MDA-MB-231 cells. In particular, these NPs downregulated NF-\(\kappa\)B and MMP-2 expression, reducing ROS-mediated MDA-MB-231 migration both in vitro and in vivo. [PERSON] et al. (2017) reported a novel cationic liposome nanocomposite nanocomposite for gemcitabine and docetaxel co-delivery. The new formulation exerted a synergistic induction of cytotoxicity, apoptosis and inhibition of wound healing, without showing systemic toxicity [135]. Finally, nanobiosensors are biosensors (simple, robust, sensitive, cost-effective) combined with nanomaterials [136] that are applicable for TNBC diagnosis [137]. Specific biomarkers, such as miR and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), are used for cancer detection. For instance, miR-199a-Sp has been suggested as a suitable candidate for the diagnosis of TNBC in patients in the early stages of the disease. An electrochemical nanobiosensor to detect serum miR-199a-Sp has been studied [138].