Nanotechnology-based approaches in anticancer research

Abstract

Cancer is a highly complex disease to understand, because it entails multiple cellular physiological systems. The most common cancer treatments are restricted to chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Moreover, the early recognition and treatment of cancer remains a technological bottleneck. There is an urgent need to develop new and innovative technologies that could help to delineate tumor margins, identify residual tumor cells and micrometastases, and determine whether a tumor has been completely removed or not. Nanotechnology has witnessed significant progress in the past few decades, and its effect is widespread nowadays in every field. Nanoparticles can be modified in numerous ways to prolong circulation, enhance drug localization, increase drug efficacy, and potentially decrease chances of multidrug resistance by the use of nanotechnology. Recently, research in the field of cancer nanotechnology has made remarkable advances. The present review summarizes the application of various nanotechnology-based approaches towards the diagnostics and therapeutics of cancer.

Keywords: cancer; diagnosis; drug delivery; nanoparticle; nanotechnology; treatment.

Figure 1

(A–J) Illustration to clarify the described drug-delivery systems of various nanoparticles (NPs). (A) Liposomal nanoparticle; (B) solid lipid nanoparticle; (C) gold nanoparticle; (D) nanodiamond; (E) magnetic nanovector; (F) carbon nanotube; (G) quantum dot nanocarrier; (H) polymeric nanoparticle; (I) dendrimer nanoparticle; (J) virus-mediated nanocarrier.