An Insight of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate-loaded Gold Nanoparticles as an Oral Mucosal Cancer Adjuvant Therapy by Modulating Intrinsic Apoptosis Pathway: A Narrative Review

Oral mucosal cancer is a type of cancer with high recurrence. Tobacco smoking, alcohol, and virus are the main etiology. During the centuries, treatment options for this cancer are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy despite being considered as invasive treatments, high cytotoxicity to normal tissue, and potential for metastasis. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a non-toxic biomaterial that induces intrinsic apoptotic cascade, but oral administration results in low bioavailability thus combining with gold nanoparticles (GNPs) as drug carriers. EGCG-loaded GNPs interact with laminin receptors then endocytosed and encapsulated. EGCG-loaded GNPs combined with photothermal therapy convert light into oscillating electrons and change GNPs into charged material that potentially induces double-strand breaks leading to p53 activation. Activation of p53 modulates the expression of various pro-apoptosis proteins thus leading to apoptosome formation to activate caspase-3, which manifests in the formation of apoptotic bodies.