Anti-Cancer targeting and treatment using nanocarriers based drug delivery system

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and recurring disease. Main problems associated with anti-cancer drugs is that it targets healthy cells along with cancer cells. Others include multidrug resistance, poor water solubility. Even small drug molecules get eliminated by the liver and kidneys. Cancer drugs need to have higher activity and selectivity and be non-toxic to healthy cells. Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and therapy and they provide a great alternative for the classical drug delivery techniques. The reasons being improved drug tolerability, efficacy, decreased toxicities, enhanced solubility, stability and controlled release. Advances in protein engineering and material science have contributed to novel nanoscale targeting approaches that bring new hope to cancer patients. However, to date, there are only a few clinically approved nanocarriers that incorporate molecules to selectively bind and target cancer cells. This review examines some of the advanced formulations and discusses the challenges in translating basic research to the clinic and emphasizing the challenges in cancer treatment
References
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