Cancer cell multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the most significant barriers to chemotherapy patients' ability to treat malignant tumors.This review first discusses the basic processes of MDR and then details the newest usage of nanomaterials combining multiple therapeutic approaches (e.g. PDT, PTT, gas therapy, gene therapy, and CDT) with MDR chemotherapy. We also analyze the advantages and rationales of these combination systems and why they can reduce MDR cancer cells. Currently, together with various new treatment approaches, MDR-related chemotherapeutic research is gaining momentum in search of better therapeutic results. PDT, for example, has the ability to eliminate high-efficiency multidrug-resistant malignancies but has limited relevance to tumor treatment. In this perspective, SDT is a highly promising approach as it increases ROS production utilizing ultrasonic vibrations, allowing magnitude orders to reach deeper than light. PTT is also often criticized for NIR light's restricted penetration depth; thermomagnetic therapy, using magnetic fields to produce local tissue hyperthermia, can considerably alleviate this problem. However, current research on the possibilities of using these new technologies to fight MDR remains rather rare, and more combination strategies should be carefully investigated in the future. Moreover, ongoing discoveries of cell death pathways, highlighted by recent ferroptosis findings, present a new strategy for our battle against MDR and may revolutionize our knowledge of MDR formation. Ferroptotic cell death promises to treat MDR in various cancers. While most of this cutting-edge research is still in its infancy, we anticipate gaining a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of these revolutionary anti-MDR medicines in the near future.
Resistin induces multidrug resistance in myeloma by inhibiting cell death and upregulating ABC transporter expression
