Unveiling microtubule dynamics in lung cancer: Recent findings and prospects for drug delivery and treatment

Microtubules are dynamic proteins that play crucial roles in the normal functions of cells. Chromosome missegregation driven by microtubules during cell division can lead to several diseases, including cancer. Among them, lung cancer is one of the leading causes of tumor mortality worldwide, and presents several limitations including early prognosis and currently available treatments. This review revisited the role of several features of microtubules in lung cancer, which include microtubule isotypes, bioelectrical function of microtubules, kinetochoreand mitochondrial-microtubule interactions, as well as ciliogenesis in tumor development and progression. These findings support recent discoveries of biomarkers and nanotechnology-based microtubule targeting drugs for development of early prognosis or alternative treatments. Thus, this manuscript aims to deliver new insights and deepen understanding of these intriguing interactions of microtubules and lung cancer, which will serve as a basis for the future development of new alternatives of delivery systems to overcome the limitations of current treatments.