Nanoparticle-assisted Therapeutic Strategies for Effective Cancer Management

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. There are various classes of medications available for the management of cancer. Nanoparticles based drugs are the most preferred category among them due to their specificity towards target and reduction in the dose of drugs. Nanotechnology includes multiple subdisciplines like nanostructures, nanomaterials, and nanoparticles. These nanostructure-based drugs have gained extrusion in the medical field because of their small size, shape and high pharmacological efficacy. Nanomedicine is a booming field involving the use of different types of nanoparticles to kill tumor and tumorous cells. Biodegradable nanometersized particles have novel structural and physical properties that are attracting great interests from pharmaceuticals for the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs and imaging contrast agents. These nanoparticles are designed to increase more uptake of drugs or therapeutic genes into cancerous cells while noncancerous cells are intact. In this review, different nanomaterials-based strategies for a safe, fast, effective and targeted delivery system for drugs are discussed in relation to their anticancer activities.