NANOCARRIER-BASED APPROACHES FOR ENHANCED ANTICANCER DRUG DELIVERY

Nancya S.*, Mohamed Haneef A., Mohamed Imran N., Mohamed Marzook M., Hari Krishna D., Logesh K.

ABSTRACT

Over recent years, nanotechnology has emerged as a transformative approach for delivering therapeutic agents in cancer management. A persistent clinical obstacle in oncology is the tendency of tumor cells to develop multidrug resistance (MDR) against conventional chemotherapeutic agents. To address this issue, significant technological progress has been made in engineering delivery systems capable of transporting anticancer drugs to tumor sites with improved drug loading. A wide variety of nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems have been developed for tumor targeting and have yielded encouraging outcomes in cancer management. This review explores the significance of nanocarriers in treating various cancer types and examines their role in targeted drug delivery. Preparation techniques and recent progress in nanocarrier platforms—including polymeric nanoparticles, micelles, nanotubes, dendrimers, magnetic nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), and quantum dots (QDs)—are also discussed, along with the associated challenges and limitations.

Keywords: Nanomaterials, drug delivery, anticancer therapy, nanoparticles, preparation methods, clinical applications.