Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan;13(1):759-773.
doi: 10.1080/21655979.2021.2012907.

New challenges in the use of nanomedicine in cancer therapy

Mahmood Rasool  1 , Arif Malik  2 , Sulayman Waquar  2 , Mahwish Arooj  3 , Sara Zahid  2 , Muhammad Asif  4   5 , Sumaira Shaheen  6 , Abrar Hussain  5 , Hamid Ullah  7 , Siew Hua Gan  8
Affiliations

New challenges in the use of nanomedicine in cancer therapy

Mahmood Rasool et al. Bioengineered. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Nanomedicines are applied as alternative treatments for anticancer agents. For the treatment of cancer, due to the small size in nanometers (nm), specific site targeting can be achieved with the use of nanomedicines, increasing their bioavailability and conferring fewer toxic side effects. Additionally, the use of minute amounts of drugs can lead to cost savings. In addition, nanotechnology is effectively applied in the preparation of such drugs as they are in nm sizes, considered one of the earliest cutoff values for the production of products utilized in nanotechnology. Early concepts described gold nanoshells as one of the successful therapies for cancer and associated diseases where the benefits of nanomedicine include effective active or passive targeting. Common medicines are degraded at a higher rate, whereas the degradation of macromolecules is time-consuming. All of the discussed properties are responsible for executing the physiological behaviors occurring at the following scale, depending on the geometry. Finally, large nanomaterials based on organic, lipid, inorganic, protein, and synthetic polymers have also been utilized to develop novel cancer cures.

Keywords: Nanomedicine; active targeting; nanomaterials; nanoshells; passive targeting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kola I, Landis J.. Can the pharmaceutical industry reduce attrition rates? Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2004;3(8):711–716. - PubMed
    1. Meng H, Xue M, Xia T, et al. Autonomous in vitro anticancer drug release from mesoporous silica nanoparticles by pH-sensitive nanovalves. J Am Chem Soc. 2010;132(36):12690–12697. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Krown SE, Northfelt DW, Osoba D, et al. Use of liposomal anthracyclines in Kaposi’s sarcoma. Seminars in oncology: Elsevier. 2004;31:36–52. - PubMed
    1. Gabizon A, Isacson R, Rosengarten O, et al. An open-label study to evaluate dose and cycle dependence of the pharmacokinetics of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2008;61(4):695–702. - PubMed
    1. Moghimi SM, Hunter AC, Murray JC. Nanomedicine: current status and future prospects. FASEB J. 2005;19(3):311–330. - PubMed