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
Review
. 2021 Dec 5;16(1):173.
doi: 10.1186/s11671-021-03628-6.

Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy: Current Progress and Challenges

Shreelaxmi Gavas  1 , Sameer Quazi  2 , Tomasz M Karpiński  3
Affiliations
Review

Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy: Current Progress and Challenges

Shreelaxmi Gavas et al. Nanoscale Res Lett. .

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and morbidity with a complex pathophysiology. Traditional cancer therapies include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. However, limitations such as lack of specificity, cytotoxicity, and multi-drug resistance pose a substantial challenge for favorable cancer treatment. The advent of nanotechnology has revolutionized the arena of cancer diagnosis and treatment. Nanoparticles (1-100 nm) can be used to treat cancer due to their specific advantages such as biocompatibility, reduced toxicity, more excellent stability, enhanced permeability and retention effect, and precise targeting. Nanoparticles are classified into several main categories. The nanoparticle drug delivery system is particular and utilizes tumor and tumor environment characteristics. Nanoparticles not only solve the limitations of conventional cancer treatment but also overcome multidrug resistance. Additionally, as new multidrug resistance mechanisms are unraveled and studied, nanoparticles are being investigated more vigorously. Various therapeutic implications of nanoformulations have created brand new perspectives for cancer treatment. However, most of the research is limited to in vivo and in vitro studies, and the number of approved nanodrugs has not much amplified over the years. This review discusses numerous types of nanoparticles, targeting mechanisms, and approved nanotherapeutics for oncological implications in cancer treatment. Further, we also summarize the current perspective, advantages, and challenges in clinical translation.

Keywords: Cancer; Cellular targeting; Chemotherapy; Cryosurgery; Multidrug resistance; Nanoparticles; Scale-up.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors announce no competing of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Nanoparticles for cancer therapy
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Classification of NP synthesis a top-down and b bottom-up approaches
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Passive cellular targeting
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Pictorial representation of active cellular targeting
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Various types of nanomaterials used in cancer therapy
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Diagrammatic representation of NPs in cryosurgery
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wu S, Zhu W, Thompson P, Hannun YA. Evaluating intrinsic and non-intrinsic cancer risk factors. Nat Commun. 2018;9(1):3490. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05467-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Quazi S (2021) Telomerase gene therapy: a remission towards cancer. Preprints 2021, 2021100407. 10.20944/preprints202110.0407.v1
    1. Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Sundaram C, Harikumar KB, Tharakan ST, Lai OS, Sung B, Aggarwal BB. Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes. Pharm Res. 2008;25(9):2097–2116. doi: 10.1007/s11095-008-9661-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cancer Facts & Figures 2021 | American Cancer Society. (n.d.). https://www.cancer.org. https://www.cancer.org/research/cancer-facts-statistics/all-cancer-facts...
    1. Park W, Heo YJ, Han DK. New opportunities for nanoparticles in cancer immunotherapy. Biomater Res. 2018;22:24. doi: 10.1186/s40824-018-0133-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources