TARGETED DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS IN CANCER THERAPY: NANOTECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN APPROACHES FOR ENHANCING THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY

Abstract

The growing sophistication of cancer and its resistance to standard therapies calls for innovations in drug delivery systems to improve therapeutic results. This review looks at the state of the art in targeted cancer therapy employing nanotechnology with a focus on new developments that seek to boost treatment modalities efficacy and precision. New developments in liposomes, dendrimers, polymeric nanoparticles, and metallic nanoparticles are analyzed for their use in target site specific controlled delivery and release of chemotherapeutics, which reduces systemic toxicity and increases drug retention at the target region. This review further analyzes the use of these nanotechnologies for integrated diagnostic and therapeutic functions termed as theragnostic, which allow personalized treatment plans to be crafted for specific patient profiles and tumor traits. Furthermore, we analyze the contemporary clinical application of these technologies, describe important issues such as biocompatibility, immunogenicity, regulatory issues, and avenues of future research. Our result analysis suggests that while great strides have been made on the application of nanotechnology for treating cancer, quantitatively significant effort. It has been concluded that the commissioning of nanotechnology into the targeted delivery system has made a huge impact on cancer treatment. That highlight includes mostly the ability to release the drug in a highly specific, controlled, and stimuli-responsive manner and reduces systemic toxicity. Future research will focus on the challenges of nanoparticle bio-distribution, tumor heterogeneity, and drug resistance to make possible future developments toward true personalized nanomedicine.