Targeted Drug Delivery in Oncology: Recent Advances in Nanoparticle-BasedChemotherapeutics

Cancer is one such health concern that has been ravaging and taking away many peopleworldwide in the last four decades despite the four decades of therapeutic progress. Eventhough traditional chemotherapy is an ancient treatment option, its use is restricted because ofits extreme systemic toxicity, nonspecific ablation of normal tissues, and emergence ofmultidrug resistance. Such a weakness results in making the treatment non-sustainable in thelong term and restricting the survival of patients. In order to overcome such barriers,nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems (NDDS) have emerged as a significant and possiblydisruptive technology in cancer therapy. The advantages of NDDS are improved aqueoussolubility of the poorly water-soluble compounds, prolongation of circulation half-life,improved pharmacokinetics, and passive and active targeting of tumor tissue. Besides thisNDDS can be regulated drug delivery, stimulus responsive and therapeutic specificity in off-target effect to the cost. They might also serve as versatile vectors to co-releasechemotherapeutics and biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins/immune modulators andoffer synergistic and personalized therapy. To enhance compatibility and uptake of NDDS bythe device, the engineering of flexibility of the structure and surfaces to enable the device tooperate in the heterogeneous tumor microenvironment is also enhanced. Moreover,theranostics has been created to have diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities that allow realtime therapy monitoring. This review gives a summary on the design strategies and deliverysystem, targeting, preclinical and clinical outcomes, and approved nanomedicines andemerging nanocarriers technologies.