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With the increasing worldwide rate of chronic diseases, such as cancer, the development of novel techniques to improve the efficacy of therapeutic agents is highly demanded. Nanoparticles are especially well suited to encapsulate drugs and other therapeutic agents, bringing additional advantages, such as less frequent dosage requirements, reduced side effects due to specific targeting, and therefore increased patient compliance. However, with the increasing use of nanoparticles and their recent launch on the pharmaceutical market, it is important to achieve high-quality control of these advanced systems. In this review, we discuss the properties of different nanoparticles, the pharmacokinetics, the biosafety issues of concern, and conclude with novel nanotherapeutics and nanotheragnostics for cancer drug delivery.

The side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs on healthy organs, as well as cancer cells, are one of the main reasons for the high mortality rates of cancer patients. Controlled drug release studies with biocompatible nanoparticles are becoming increasingly important to prevent drawbacks of traditional chemotherapy treatment. In this study, it is aimed to entrap doxorubicin (DOX) into albumin nanoparticles with a high loading capacity to obtain a long-term release profile. Albumin nanoparticles were prepared through the desolvation method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The prepared particles were spherical in shape, having a size between 25 and 100 nm, and the entrapment efficiency was about 87%. The in vitro release profile of DOX-loaded albumin nanoparticles exhibited controlled release of the drug up to 124 days (90.37%). The results showed that DOX was efficiently entrapped into the prepared albumin nanoparticles and the drug was released from the carrier in a controlled manner. Assessment of the cytotoxicity of the obtained nanoparticles on human A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma) and HeLa (human cervix adenocarcinoma) cell lines was carried out through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The cancer cell line cytotoxicity results, consistent with the controlled release profile, evidently showed that DOX-loaded albumin nanoparticles can be a good option in the treatment of cancer.

Introduction: As a protein-based biomaterial for potential cancer targeting delivery, apoferritin has recently attracted interest.Areas covered: In this review, we discuss the development of this c...

Here, we report a strategy to deliver drug nanoparticles into cells with nucleus-targeting ability under a spatiotemporal control. The nanoparticles were constructed through self-assembly of photoresponsive prodrugs and free drugs. By incorporating a nucleus localization sequence in the system, drug nanoparticles could be delivered into nuclei upon visible light irradiation. The drug nanoparticles showed high drug loading capacity and specific nucleus-targeting ability, which efficiently killed cancer cells. This self-assembly strategy could be applied to other hydrophobic drugs and targeting ligands for photo-controlled organelle-targeted drug delivery.

To date, the scaled-up manufacturing and efficient drug loading of exosomes are two existing challenges limiting the clinical translation of exosome-based drug delivery. Herein, we developed a facile magnetic extrusion method for preparing endosome-derived vesicles, also known as exosome mimetics (EMs), which share the same biological origin and similar morphology, composition, and biofunctions with native exosomes. The high yield and consistency of this magnetic extrusion method help to overcome the manufacturing bottleneck in exosome research. Moreover, the proposed standardized multi-step method readily facilitates the ammonium sulfate gradient approach to actively load chemodrugs such as doxorubicin into EMs. The engineered EMs developed and tested here exhibit comparable drug delivery properties as do native exosomes and potently inhibit tumor growth by delivering doxorubicin in an orthotopic breast tumor model. These findings demonstrate that EMs can be prepared in a facile and scaled-up manner as a promising biological nanomedicine for cancer drug delivery.

The present review work tries to explore the present status of the nano carriers in the delivery of anti cancer drugs. The shortcomings associated with the anticancer drugs like poor solubility, multiple resistance and less bioavailability is been investigating using different nano formulations. The recent advance work on nanoparticles for the delivery of anti tumor drugs is focused along with the different patents available. The different technologies available in the present scenario for the delivery of anti-cancers drugs are being highlightened.

Malignant melanoma is the utmost severe form of skin cancer, causing the vast majority of deaths related to skin cancer in humans. Although melanoma is treatable at its early stages at localized fo...

In the world the biggest challenges to cure the cancer because of the abnormal cancer cells growth in the human body which is near to uncontrollable. These cells known as the malignant cell because it produced the cancer. There are several treatments for cancer such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment etc. however such treatments have major side effects like normal cell got killed, loss of hair, the surgery person skill also in consideration and high chances of reoccurrences. Due to such side effects these treatment drugs are less popular. To reduces such side effects the liposomal based treatments are the most preferable solution. The liposomes are the phospholipid bilayer vesicles and it has high encapsulation capacity. Therefore, liposomal based treatment plays significant role in the cancer treatment with less toxicity and other many advantages. The liposomal based drug pegylated liposomal doxorubicin and daunorubicin have advanced effect in the body. Furthermore, the development of the liposomes as immunoliposomes, ligand targeted and molecular targeting. This review explores the liposomal based drug delivery system, its advance effect on the cancer cells and clinically approve liposomes formulations.

With the success of recent developments in cancer technologies to optimize the therapeutic properties of new drugs, biologics, and delivery devices, a slow trend in the reduction of their clinical failures has been observed. Since the late 1900s, many drugs have been approved by the European Medicines Association (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are currently available in the market for the treatment of cancer. The FDA’s database at ClinicalTrials.gov stores all clinical trial drug information, which has made it easy for scientists to conduct research. Thus, new formulations and technologies are continuously being developed for cancer treatment. By January 2010, 939 trials had evaluated cancer drug delivery systems. This chapter provides an overview of the technological advances and emerging trends in drug delivery formulations along with their respective limitations and challenges.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) has been identified as a useful therapeutic resource in cancer therapy. Molecular manipulation with siRNA has been reported to have high therapeutic potential on the cells with excessive gene overexpression or caused by mutation. However, siRNA therapeutic approaches are pursuing effective and efficient delivery systems for in vivo applications due to the lack of stable, low cell uptake, and the high likelihood of function loss due to enzymatic degradation. The chapter comprises various approaches used to improve siRNA delivery focusing on nanoparticles with a common goal and superior effectiveness. Besides, this chapter discusses problems and prospects for creating safe and effective siRNA delivery systems in cancer therapy, focusing on nanoparticles. Similarly, it assesses the recent progress achieved by nanomaterials, including biodegradables, liposomes, polyplex, lipoplex, and dendrimers with the transmission of small interfering RNA (siRNA). The morphology, structure, and preparation of different nanoparticles and their strengths, along with the recent progress of siRNA carrier systems in preclinical and clinical research, are also addressed in detail.

Cancer is a scourge of multicellular organisms since time immemorial and is a cause of mortality in millions of people across the globe cutting across ethnicity, race, and gender. Humanity has been working tirelessly to find innovative therapies against different forms of cancer but there is still a long distance to go before we can say that we are close to winning the war against this dreaded disease with multiple issues that need to be sorted. One of the major issues with any cancer therapy is deleterious side effects on the healthy cells around the cancer site where the therapy is targeted. Oncological researchers are trying to come up with new, efficient, and innovative therapies which can reduce/minimize the critical side effects which result from conventional therapies. Although multiple newer therapies are either in clinical trials or already been used for treating patients but at the same they have been associated with multiple challenges about their use in both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In this chapter, we will provide an in-depth analysis of the most innovative advances in basic and applied cancer research. The topics covered in depth in this article are emerging/newer techniques like inorganic nanoparticles, dendrimers, protein nanoparticles, polymeric micelles, liposomes, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, biopolymeric nanoparticles, and exosomes. The reader will get in-depth understanding of the above techniques, their advantages/disadvantages, and the current status.

Tumor targeting of therapeutic or imaging agents has the advantage of improving specificity and effectiveness of treatment for various cancer types. In this context, the use of nanocomposites in cancer drug delivery appears as a promising strategy for the next generation of chemotherapeutics. In this chapter, the materials that can be combined to form the most interesting nanocomposites will be summarized by making a classification depending on the nature of one of the constituent materials. Then, polymer-based, clay-based, metal-based, silica-based, magnetic-based, and carbon-based nanocomposites will be described in the relation of their application in nanomedicine for cancer therapy.

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is one of the natural biopolymers with unique features, the most important of which are nontoxicity, biocompatibility, high tensile profile, nanofiber structure, and purity. The current review aimed to summarize the latest development in BNC-based biomaterials in cancer drug delivery. The original articles were found by searching key databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Scientific and using key terms such as "bacterial nanocellulose OR bacterial cellulose OR BNC" AND "cancer OR carcinoma OR tumor". The obtained data were in a wide timeframe and the English language. Totally, 350 articles were found from the three main databases (i.e., 106, 251, and 173 articles from PubMed, Scopus, and the Web of Science, respectively). In general, 32 articles met the inclusion criteria after duplicate removal and screening according to the aim of the present review study. In this review study, different applications of the bacterial nanocellulose were considered for cancer drug delivery in addition to describing advanced methods that may be applied to improve therapeutic potency while reducing the adverse effects of chemodrugs by decreasing their dosages. The high ratio of the surface area-to-volume and easy modifications of their chemical components lead BNC potential use as an appropriate matrix structure for the binding and controlled release of various pharmaceutical agents, specifically for topical or transdermal administrations. In addition, BNC-based products regulate the release of hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds, therefore, provide appropriate materials related to cancer drug delivery. However, undoubtedly, further developments of BNC-based products as cancer drug delivery systems require more extensive investigations.

In this chapter, the authors present literature and discuss some applications of plant-derived edible nanoparticles (NPs) in cancer drug delivery. Plant-derived edible nanoparticles (PDENs) obtained from grapefruit, ginger, tomatoes, and garlic reportedly have plant-specific monodispersed size distributions, with median diameters of about 400 nm for edible grape NPs, and about 250 nm for edible grapefruit and ginger NPs. In contrast, edible carrot NPs has two such distributions, one about 100 nm and the other about 1,000 nm. Plant-derived exosome-like NPs might affect cancer progression, and inhibit cell proliferation in various tumor cell lines. Modified grapefruitderived lipid NPs conjugated with the targeting ligand folic acid mediated the targeted delivery of doxorubicin to Colon-26 tumors in vivo and enhanced the chemotherapeutic inhibition of tumor growth compared with free drug. Findings from these investigations showed that PDENs can be good candidates for the delivery of anti-cancer drugs.

Introduction: Combination therapy has been explored for its potential to reduce or eliminate multidrug resistance in treating different types of cancer including leukemia. Nutraceutical, small molecular drugs, and small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) are some of the effective drugs. In order to avoid off-site targeting, reduce the dosage required, and increase the half-life of the drug in the circulation system, drug delivery vehicles, such as nanoparticles and microfibers have been explored.Areas covered: This review summarizes various therapies utilized in treating leukemia based on their effectiveness in inducing protein inhibition and/or apoptosis. In particular, treatment effectiveness using combination therapy using various devices is addressed. Recently explored drug delivery methods are reviewed, providing examples and their applications in cancer treatment. The drug listing, delivery systems classifications, along with the general modeling approach in this review, provide, to a full extent, a basis for cancer drug delivery future studies.Expert opinion: The reviewer's opinion tackles the potential of using a multi-delivery system to deliver multiple drugs, providing better control upon drug release and targeting. Both local and systemic delivery are considered and explored for their potential targets. Researchers are advised to pre-consider all aspects associated with their desired delivery method.

Due to the great progress of nanotechnology in clinical application, numerous types of small drug delivery systems have been developed and utilized to improve the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs. Due to their excellent physiological properties, stimuli-responsive systems or “smart” systems that are able to release the drug at the desire site within the human body have received much interest in biomedical and cancer drug delivery. Herein, the recent advances and progress in the design and development of various stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems and their mechanisms of action are discussed in details.

Nanomaterials are increasingly used as drug carriers for cancer therapy. Nanomaterials also appeal to researchers in the areas of cancer diagnosis and biomarker discovery. Several antitumor nanodrugs are currently being tested in preclinical and clinical trials and show promise in therapeutic and other settings. We review the development of nanomaterial drug carriers, including liposomes, polymer nanoparticles, dendritic polymers, and nanomicelles, for the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers. The prospects of nanomaterials as drug carriers for future clinical applications are also discussed.

A review of cytotoxicity associated with cancer treatments as presented in literature was discussed. In all the studies, the research is aware of the cytotoxic effects of the cancer drug and the delivery form such as nanotechnology-based delivery. The scope of the review was limited to showing 1) the need for modulating cytotoxicity and 2) how cytotoxicity has been controlled in actual studies on treatment plans in vivo and in vitro. Keywords: Cytotoxicity, in vivo, in vitro, nanotechnology, nanoparticles, apoptosis

The nonhazardous radiofrequency (RF)-aided cancer treatment is very famous in the oncology field as it is highly penetrable in deep-rooted cancers, enabling better therapeutic efficacy. Recently various research works have focused on RF-sensitive nanocarriers for drug delivery applications. This chapter briefs about different RF-sensitive therapeutic nanocarriers based on metals and nonmetals for anticancer drug delivery. Additionally, more emphasis is placed on their applications and future perspectives.

© The Author(s) 2019., [Background]: Lack of effective tumor-specific delivery systems remains an unmet clinical challenge for successful translation of innovative therapies, such as, therapeutic oligonucleotides. In the past decade, exosomes have been suggested to be ideal drug delivery systems with application in a broad range of pathologies including cancer, due to their organotropic properties. Tumor-derived exosomes, having tumor-homing properties, can efficiently reach cancer cells and therefore behave as carriers for improved drug delivery to the primary tumor and metastases. However, due to their complex composition, and still undefined biological functions, safety concerns arise hampering their translation to the clinics., [Results]: We propose here the development of exosome-mimetic nanosystems (EMNs) that simulate natural tumor-derived exosomes with respect to their structure and functionality, but with a controlled composition, for the targeted delivery of therapeutic oligonucleotides to lung adenocarcinoma cells (microRNA-145 mimics). Making use of the well-known liposome technology, EMNs can be engineered, loaded with the therapeutic compounds, and tailored with specific proteins (integrin α6β4) providing them organotropic properties. EMNs show great similarities to natural exosomes with respect to their physicochemical properties, drug loading capacity, and ability to interact with the cancer target cells in vitro and in vivo, but are easier to manufacture, can be produced at high yields, and are safer by definition., [Conclusions]: We have designed a multifunctional nanoplatform mimicking exosomes, EMNs, and proved their potential to reach cancer cells with a similar efficient that tumor-derived exosomes but providing important advantages in terms of production methodology and regulations. Additionally, EMNs are highly versatile systems that can be tunable for a broader range of applications., This work was in part supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (CP12/03150, PI15/00828, and CB16/12/00328 from M.F. and PI16/0014, CIBERONC CB16/12/00295 from G.M.B). A.V.R. also acknowledges the fnancial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport (FPU15/06595).

Cell-mediated drug delivery systems have attracted significant research interest in the past years owing to their superior properties such as excellent biocompatibility, potential long circulation, intrinsic homing properties, and ability to permeate biological barriers. Macrophages, as one of the major phagocytes of the innate immune system, represent a promising target for cancer drug delivery because, on the one hand, they play critical roles in the tumor microenvironment in various stages of tumor progression and, on the other hand, they can be harnessed as Trojan horses for enhanced drug delivery. This article provides a mini-review of the different aspects of macrophages for cancer therapy including tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumor microenvironment, novel cancer treatment targeting TAMs, and nanoparticle-loaded macrophages as tumor-infiltrating drug carriers.

Over the past years, the emergence of various therapeutic approaches has attracted so much consideration, but chemotherapy remains the most effective way in experimental practice. However, due to obstacles and difficulties, there is a limitation for the additional clinical presentation of the outdated chemical treatments such as paclitaxel and doxorubicin. Some of the barriers are severe side effects, profound cytotoxicity, and low therapeutic efficacy. Drug delivery systems (DDS) such as polymeric micelles have been technologically advanced over the recent decades to advance the treatment efficacy and lessen the side effects incurred. The polymeric micelles self-assembled from amphiphilic polymers serve to sum up hydrophobic treatments in the core and regulate the discharge profile of the drugs through response towards stimuli of the tumor microenvironments, which in this case are pH, temperature, light, and reduction.

Research for synthesis of size-controlled carriers is currently challenging one. In this research paper, a method for size-controlled synthesis of biodegradable nanocarriers is proposed and described. Salting out method is suitable for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs for the encapsulation on carriers. This synthetic method is based on polylactic acid (PLA) and non-ionic carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) composed by CaCl2 as salting out agent. This method permits size-controlled synthesis of particles between 50 and 400 nm simply by varying the concentration of salting out agents. We have prepared cisplatin (CDDP)-loaded PLA-CMC nanocarriers by salting out method, with varying salting out agent (CaCl2) concentrations as 0.05, 0.2, 0.35 and 0.5 M. The nanocarriers were characterized for their size, surface charge and morphology by atomic force microscope, zeta potential analyser and transmission electron microscope, respectively. The encapsulation efficiency and in-vitro drug-releasing behaviour of the nanocarriers were investigated. The cytotoxicity effect of nanocarriers and drug-loaded nanocarriers was tested against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.

184 Background: Oral systemic therapy (ST) presents unique care delivery challenges. Gaps in patient education and monitoring for patients on oral ST delivery are well documented and can result in decreased adherence or increased toxicity. Within Ontario, cancer care is provincially coordinated through Ontario Health- Cancer Care Ontario (OH-CCO), but locally implemented by 14 Regional Cancer Programs (RCPs). Using a centrally coordinated, but regionally implemented quality improvement (QI) approach, we aimed to improve the quality of oral ST delivery across Ontario by enabling the use of patient specific monitoring plans to optimize treatment adherence and toxicity management. Methods: Between 2018 and 2020 a 2 year focused QI project was undertaken. A suite of 19 quality measures were developed to measure different quality domains for oral ST delivery including treatment plan documentation, patient education, toxicity/adherence monitoring and toxicity outcomes. In year 1, all regions used the suite of quality measures to establish baseline performance and develop a QI plan using rapid cycle improvement methodology to improve performance in at least 1 domain based on regional gaps and priorities. Projects were implemented and evaluated during year 2. OH-CCO provided QI coaching through dissemination of standardized QI tools, a monthly discussion forum and project specific feedback. At the end of year 2, a post-implementation evaluation was performed for each region. Results: 15 centers participated, representing all RCPs across Ontario. The participating centers implemented QI projects focused on treatment plan documentation (N = 3), patient education (N = 10) and toxicity/adherence management (N = 5), with some focusing on multiple domains. All centers reported an improvement in at least 1 domain (see Table). Key enablers identified include engagement with a multi-disciplinary team and the use of technology, while barriers include lack of onsite dispensing pharmacy. Future work will continue to focus on quality of oral ST delivery and better pharmacy integration. Conclusions: Through a centrally coordinated, locally implemented QI project, improvement in quality of oral ST care was achieved across Ontario. This model of QI focus has the potential to be adaptable across health systems. [Table: see text]

Based on exceptional advantages of aptamers, increasing attention has been presented in the utilise of them as targeted ligands for cancer drug delivery. Recently, the progress of aptamer-targeted nanoparticles has presented new therapeutic systems for several types of cancer with decreased toxicity and improved efficacy. We highlight some of the promising formulations of aptamer-conjugated polymeric nanoparticles for specific targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. This review paper focuses on the current progresses in the use of the novel strategies to aptamer-targeted drug delivery for chemotherapy. An extensive literature review was performed using internet database, mainly PubMed based on MeSH keywords. The searches included full-text publications written in English without any limitation in date. The abstracts, reviews, books as well as studies without obvious relating of aptamers as targeted ligands for cancer drug delivery were excluded from the study. The reviewed literature revealed that aptamers with ability to modify and conjugate to various molecules can be used as targeted cancer therapy agents. However, development of aptamers unique to each individual's tumour to the development of personalised medicine seems to be needed.

Nature has designed nanosized particles, specifically viruses, equipped to deliver cargo to cells. We report the chemical bioconjugation and shape shifting of a hollow, rod-shaped tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) to dense spherical nanoparticles (SNPs). We describe methods to transform TMV rods to spheres, load TMV rods and spheres with the chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin (DOX), to deliver modified particles to breast cancer cells, and to determine the IC50 values of the plant virus-based drug delivery system.

Delivery of a cancer therapeutic to its intended extracellular or intracellular target, which is required for achieving therapeutic efficacy, involves multiple kinetic processes. This chapter outlines the complex and dynamic biological properties of solid tumors that may limit the therapeutic from reaching its target, and describes the application of chemical engineering tools (e.g., multiscale modeling and computational fluid dynamics) in quantitative systems pharmacology research. The discussions include both conventional small-molecule drugs and nanotherapeutics as the latter represents a new promising therapeutic strategy in translational cancer research. Examples of our earlier work demonstrate the successful use of computational modeling to predict drug delivery in solid tumors as functions of time and intratumoral location and to use such predictions for therapy development in cancer patients.

Spatial and temporal control over drug release has rendered stimuli-responsive nanoparticles to be one of the most popular cancer drug delivery systems. Nanomaterial-based photo-triggered drug delivery (PDD) encompasses the advantages of stimuli-responsive drug delivery by utilizing light in conjunction with a photosensitizer, drug, or imaging agent to trigger and enhance a diagnosis and increase therapeutic efficacy. Thus, by localizing these nanomaterials specifically at the tumor site, researchers have successfully achieved cancer cell-specific drug delivery, therapy, and diagnosis. This chapter explores these state-of-the-art nanomaterial based-PDD technologies for cancer theranostics. We will revisit several applications and mechanisms of PDD and review various factors to be considered while developing a PDD system. Finally, the limitations and the future of PDD will also be briefly discussed.

Nanotechnology has brought about the advent of personalized medicine in the era of targeted therapeutic strategies for cancer therapy. The ability to exploit tumor features for therapeutic gain has made it possible to manufacture more effective nanomedicines for cancer treatment. However, known obstacles, including the inability to overcome pathophysiological barriers of tumors, have impeded disease management. In spite of this, recent efforts have been made to develop more functionalized nanosystems that utilize the active-targeting approach. This article reviews the FDA-approved cancer drug delivery systems in the general framework of personalized nanomedicine. We discuss the latest efforts in the development of functionalized nano-systems, and summarize relevant ongoing preclinical and clinical trials.

Advancements in cancer drug delivery have led to the development of personalized oncology care through molecularly-driven targeted therapies. Understanding molecular and cellular mechanisms which drive tumor progression and resistance is critical in managing new treatment strategies which have shifted from empiric to biomarker-directed therapy selection. Biomarker-directed therapies have improved clinical outcomes in multiple malignancies as monotherapy and in combination with other treatment modalities, however the changing scope of treatment options presents new opportunities and challenges for research. Furthermore, pharmacogenetics may provide a rationale method of personalizing anticancer drug dosing and supportive care management for oncology patients. This chapter reviews biomarker classifications and pharmacogenetics in anticancer therapy and supportive care. Examples of biomarker-directed therapies and clinical assays, in addition to future directions of molecular profiling in oncology therapy management are discussed.

Nanoparticles are rapidly being developed and trialed to overcome several limitations of traditional drug delivery systems and are coming up as a distinct therapeutics for cancer treatment. Conventional chemotherapeutics possess some serious side effects including damage of the immune system and other organs with rapidly proliferating cells due to nonspecific targeting, lack of solubility, and inability to enter the core of the tumors resulting in impaired treatment with reduced dose and with low survival rate. Nanotechnology has provided the opportunity to get direct access of the cancerous cells selectively with increased drug localization and cellular uptake. Nanoparticles can be programmed for recognizing the cancerous cells and giving selective and accurate drug delivery avoiding interaction with the healthy cells. This review focuses on cell recognizing ability of nanoparticles by various strategies having unique identifying properties that distinguish them from previous anticancer therapies. It also discusses specific drug delivery by nanoparticles inside the cells illustrating many successful researches and how nanoparticles remove the side effects of conventional therapies with tailored cancer treatment.

Drug repurpose or reposition is recently recognized as a high-performance strategy for developing therapeutic agents for cancer treatment. This approach can significantly reduce the risk of failure, shorten R&D time, and minimize cost and regulatory obstacles. On the other hand, nanotechnology-based delivery systems are extensively investigated in cancer therapy due to their remarkable ability to overcome drug delivery challenges, enhance tumor specific targeting, and reduce toxic side effects. With increasing knowledge accumulated over the past decades, nanoparticle formulation and delivery have opened up a new avenue for repurposing drugs and demonstrated promising results in advanced cancer therapy. In this review, recent developments in nano-delivery and formulation systems based on soft (i.e., DNA nanocages, nanogels, and dendrimers) and condensed (i.e., noble metal nanoparticles and metal–organic frameworks) nanomaterials, as well as their theranostic applications in drug repurpose against cancer are summarized.

Many challenges persist in the field of cancer drug delivery. The field of image-guided drug delivery emerged from the need for accurate in vivo quantification of various pharmacokinetic and therapeutic delivery parameters. Today it continues to be an essential tool in delivery system R&D while providing innovative noninvasive strategies for advancement. This article will focus specifically on the role of ultrasound in this area. Ultrasound provides a novel means by which drugs can be delivered through guided placement of a local delivery device, or through the destruction of ultrasound contrast agents at the target location. The techniques developed by our research group have examined these areas and have also led to a more thorough understanding into the parameters that affect drug release kinetics in vivo from in situ-forming implants. In addition, we have developed a new ultrasound contrast agent capable of extravascular delivery to tumors for improved detection and eventual treatment. Both areas will be discussed in this research spotlight.

Nanotechnology is a cutting edge and rapidly evolving technology in medicine. The potential of nanomedicine in cancer therapy is infinitely promising due to the fact that novel developments are constantly being explored. This is particularly the case in the use of nanoparticles in both tumor diagnosis, as well as treatment. This article will attempt to describe some recent advances using nanoparticle drug delivery system in cancer therapy. The evolution history, the challenges and the role of nanoparticles in cancer drug delivery will briefly be discussed together with additional opportunities in cancer therapy. An overall understanding of these issues will help with further advancement of designing better drug delivery system that can be applied clinically.

The enhanced permeability and retention effect of nanoparticles has become the gold standard principle for cancer drug delivery systems, holding the promise of safe, simple and effective therapy. Nevertheless, due to its poor clinical translation, many recent papers describe the limitations of this EPR effect. Hence, efforts should be provided to overcome these barriers allowing the enhancement of nanomedicines on the market. This communication reviews three main strategies to enhance the EPR effect: (i) the normalization of the tumor vasculature; (ii) the possibility to include collagenase or hyaluronidase into the tumor microenvironment to simultaneously improve the transport and reduce the interstitial fluid pressure and (iii) the increase of the tumor permeability using external or internal stimuli.

Metastasis contributes to over 90% of cancer-related deaths. Numerous nanoparticle platforms have been developed to target and treat cancer, yet efficient delivery of these systems to the appropriate site remains challenging. Leukocytes, which share similarities to tumor cells in terms of their transport and migration through the body, are well suited to serve as carriers of drug delivery systems to target cancer sites.This review focuses on the use and functionalization of leukocytes for therapeutic targeting of metastatic cancer. Tumor cell and leukocyte extravasation, margination in the bloodstream, and migration into soft tissue are discussed, along with the potential to exploit these functional similarities to effectively deliver drugs. Current nanoparticle-based drug formulations for the treatment of cancer are reviewed, along with methods to functionalize delivery vehicles to leukocytes, either on the surface and/or within the cell. Recent progress in this area, both in vitro and in vivo, is also discussed, with a particular emphasis on targeting cancer cells in the bloodstream as a means to interrupt the metastatic process.Leukocytes interact with cancer cells both in the bloodstream and at the site of solid tumors. These interactions can be utilized to effectively deliver drugs to targeted areas, which can reduce both the amount of drug required and various nonspecific cytotoxic effects within the body. If drug delivery vehicle functionalization does not interfere with leukocyte function, this approach may be utilized to neutralize tumor cells in the bloodstream to prevent the formation of new metastases, and also to deliver drugs to metastatic sites within tissues.

In accordance with earlier observations, a single intravenous injection of long circulatory poloxamine-908-coated polystyrene particles to rats dramatically affected the circulation half-life and body distribution of a second dose when administered 10 days later. Both liver and spleen macrophages recognised and cleared from the blood the majority of the second dose of poloxamine-908-coated particles. The second dose of poloxamine-908-coated particles, however, regained their long circulatory behaviour when administered 1–3 h after a bolus intravenous injection of 30 mg free poloxamine-908 or poloxamer-407 (in saline)/150 g body weight. When the interval between free copolymer and particle administration was increased to 24 h then macrophage-rich organs were able to extract poloxamine-coated beads from the blood. In contrast to poloxamine-908 and poloxamer-407, prior administration of poloxamer-188 and polyethyleneglycol-20000 also failed to restore the long circulatory behaviour of the second dose of poloxamine-908-coated particles. These observations are of interest in experimental drug delivery, particularly in experimental cancer therapy (diagnostic imaging and drug delivery), involving multiple injections of poloxamine-based long circulating nanosized vehicles.

Lipophilic formulation is an invaluable technique for the delivery of cancer drugs. Incorporation of poorly soluble and toxic compounds into a lipophilic carrier vehicle improves both the stability and compatibility in blood and body fluids. Currently, although a large proportion of novel cancer drugs are poorly water soluble, most existing drug carriers are only able to encapsulate hydrophilic drugs. As the ultimate goal of drug delivery (in particular cancer drug delivery) is to achieve high therapeutic effect with minimal toxicity, it would thus be beneficial to invest substantial efforts in the development of lipophilic carrier systems. Here we describe our technique to synthesize a lipophilic carrier for hydrophobic and toxic potent cancer drugs, such as gold(III) porphyrin.