Effective use of nanocarriers as drug delivery systems for the treatment of selected tumors

Abstract

Nanotechnology has recently gained increased attention for its capability to effectively diagnose and treat various tumors. Nanocarriers have been used to circumvent the problems associated with conventional antitumor drug delivery systems, including their nonspecificity, severe side effects, burst release and damaging the normal cells. Nanocarriers improve the bioavailability and therapeutic efficiency of antitumor drugs, while providing preferential accumulation at the target site. A number of nanocarriers have been developed; however, only a few of them are clinically approved for the delivery of antitumor drugs for their intended actions at the targeted sites. The present review is divided into three main parts: first part presents introduction of various nanocarriers and their relevance in the delivery of anticancer drugs, second part encompasses targeting mechanisms and surface functionalization on nanocarriers and third part covers the description of selected tumors, including breast, lungs, colorectal and pancreatic tumors, and applications of relative nanocarriers in these tumors. This review increases the understanding of tumor treatment with the promising use of nanotechnology.

Keywords: breast tumor; colorectal tumor; dendrimers; drug delivery; liposomes; lungs tumor; nanocarriers; polymeric nanoparticles; prostate tumor; solid lipid nanoparticles.

Figure 1

Schematics of SLN. Abbreviation: SLN, solid lipid nanoparticle.

Figure 2

Diagrammatic representation of liposome structure.

Figure 3

Structure of dendrimers.

Figure 4

Schematics of PNPs. Abbreviation: PNP, polymeric nanoparticle.

Figure 5

Structure of PMs. Abbreviation: PM, polymeric micelle.

Figure 6

Structure of VNPs. Abbreviation: VNP, virus-based nanoparticle.

Figure 7

Graphical representation of SWCNTs (A) and double-walled CNTs (B). Abbreviations: CNT, carbon nanotube; SWCNT, single-walled carbon nanotube.

Figure 8

Schematics of MSNs. Abbreviation: MSN, mesoporous silica nanoparticle.

Figure 9

Diagrammatic illustration of passive tumor targeting (A) and active tumor targeting (B) by nanocarriers. Abbreviation: EPR, enhanced permeability and retention.