Intranasal drug delivery for brain tumors: Promise and challenges

• Author Details:   
• Dipali Vikas Mane ^*
• Ruchika Purohit
• Trupti Pawar
• Aishwarya Sutar
• Rutuja Kurde

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Intranasal drug delivery represents a transformative strategy for targeting therapeutic agents to the central nervous system (CNS), offering a noninvasive route that bypasses the blood–brain barrier (BBB). This modality leverages the olfactory and trigeminal neural pathways to facilitate direct nosetobrain transport, providing enhanced drug bioavailability and rapid onset of action. Recent advances in nanocarrier technologies, including liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, and mucoadhesive in situ gels, have further optimized intranasal delivery, enabling controlled release, improved stability, and tumorspecific targeting in brain malignancies. Despite its potential, several challenges hinder clinical translation, including mucociliary clearance, enzymatic degradation in the nasal cavity, formulation irritability, and variability in patient anatomy. Moreover, precise targeting of heterogeneous tumor microenvironments remains a critical hurdle. Strategies integrating bioadhesive polymers, permeability enhancers, and surface modified nanocarriers are under investigation to overcome these limitations. Preclinical studies demonstrate significant antitumor efficacy, yet comprehensive clinical validation is limited. Regulatory considerations, scalability, and reproducibility of formulation also demand careful attention. Future directions involve multimodal approaches that combine intranasal delivery with imagingguided precision therapy and immunomodulatory agents, aiming to maximize therapeutic index while minimizing systemic toxicity. Overall, intranasal drug delivery offers a promising, patientriendly alternative for brain tumor therapy, with ongoing research poised to address current limitations and unlock its full clinical potential.