Chitosan and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in different cancers.

It's been a while since the disease of cancer was discovered in 16th and 17th century but still this disease is one of the most lethal diseases in the world which is taking a great number of lives every year. Cancer statistics suggest that there are still a lot of improvements that we have to make in the field of cancer treatment in order to overcome this deadly disease. Currently, nanotechnology has provided some more effective methods in this field which has attracted a lot of attention. Novel drug delivery systems which work through using nanoparticles might be the answer to many unsolved questions in treating cancer. Chitosan is a natural glucose polymer which has the potential to be utilized as a proper drug carrier by cause of its advantageous features. Chitosan-based delivery systems are able to affect cancerous cells in many pathways. Wnt signaling pathways which are one of the most essential ingredients of cancer pathogenesis, can be the target of chitosan nanoformulations. In this paper, we discussed the specific impacts of chitosan and its nanoformulations on each components of the Wnt/catenin pathway. Our conclusions might give novel insights for designing more efficient therapeutic approaches for several kinds of cancer.