Consequently, the use of well-planned and -designed manufacturing processes are essential, and the clinical benefit must be huge which can justify the manufacturing costs. Sci. The biodistribution profile is also strongly influenced by active clearance processes posed by various immune cells, and blood flow/renal filtration rate. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative. 7a. In vivo, pharmacokinetic studies have also been conducted in the study to reveal the variation in the glioma growth in rat brain for different complexes after 25days of the first injection. J. Nanomed. 394(1), 122142 (2010), R. Jevprasesphant et al., The influence of surface modification on the cytotoxicity of PAMAM dendrimers. Release 133(1), 23 (2009), Article J. Pharm. Rotello, Sniffing out cancer using chemical nose sensors. 2) [32]. 2015 Jun;93:52-79. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2015.03.018. J. Liposome Res. Int. Nevertheless, it is essential to choose the right type of ligand for improvedand efficient targeting of the tumor cells. Mol. Furthermore, poor pharmacokinetic characteristics of anticancer drugs arising from poor solubility, stability, and metabolism pose different challenges of toxicity, inefficacy and limited bio-distribution. Here, the size and size-dependent properties of the material will be the key to improving penetration into the matrix. The table illustrates the type of inorganic nanomaterial used as nanocarrier, the explicit drug loaded on the carrier and the cancer cells. J. Pharm. Cancer Res. Tumor-specific targeting at the surface of the cancer cells has also been explored to eradicate tumor cells. Drug Deliv. 517(1), 157167 (2017), M. Ghaffari et al., Surface functionalized dendrimers as controlled-release delivery nanosystems for tumor targeting. Nanomed. 9(2), 194201 (2013), P.M. Valencia et al., Effects of ligands with different water solubilities on self-assembly and properties of targeted nanoparticles. Nanotechnol. Zhang et al., designed pH sensitive TPGS-PAE nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, wherein doxorubicin and curcumin were co-loaded by self-assembly. Acad. Med. 10(9), 32233230 (2010), P.N. 7cg. The primary requirements in precisely engineering these nanomaterials as drug-delivery platforms for sustained release based on their size, shape, composition, surface charge, and biocompatibility, as illustrated in Fig. Drug Deliv. Am. The data indicated that OVA-iron oxide nanoparticles inhibited tumor growth effectively in mice and had good tissue compatibility with organs after intra-tumoral injection as depicted in Fig. The cellular entry of nanomaterials depends on surface charge [109]. To develop nanomaterials for specific biomedical applications, surface chemistry design is indispensable. The targeting of cells by nanoparticles results in highly specific delivery of cargos, resulting in high concentrations of the therapeutic within the cell. To overcome the hypoxia-mediated chemoresistance of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), platinum loaded, polyethylene glycol-modified graphene quantum dots (GPt) have been utilized. 3561, T. Sun et al., Engineered nanoparticles for drug delivery in cancer therapy. Kam, Z. Liu, H. Dai, Functionalization of carbon nanotubes via cleavable disulfide bonds for efficient intracellular delivery of siRNA and potent gene silencing. 6(4), 662668 (2006), P. Decuzzi et al., Size and shape effects in the biodistribution of intravascularly injected particles. 46(43), 1483114838 (2017), N. Li et al., Curcumin-loaded redox-responsive mesoporous silica nanoparticles for targeted breast cancer therapy. Azhar NA, Abu Bakar SA, Citartan M, Ahmad NH. The designed nanoformulation was spherical in shape with 15654nm size and a negative zeta potential exhibiting increased cytotoxicity in C6 glioma cells. Sci. The above discussion signifies the importance of liposomes in drug delivery systems for the treatment of cancer. B Biointerfaces 133, 246253 (2015), A. Kaphle, N.P. Current trends and challenges in cancer management and therapy using designer nanomaterials, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40580-019-0193-2, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Sci. Eur. The authors have suggested that the antitumor effect of the surface modified docetaxel loaded polylactic acid nanoparticles resulted from the targeted delivery to HepG2 cells [269]. Safwat et al., Fluorouracil-loaded gold nanoparticles for the treatment of skin cancer: development, in vitro characterization, and in vivo evaluation in a mouse skin cancer xenograft model. Pharm. Int. Eng. The advent of nanotechnology has revolutionized the arena of cancer diagnosis and treatment. Int. In conjunction to physicochemical properties, the nanomaterial storage and stability may also have an influence on their pharmacological performance [287, 288]. Several strategies have also been developed to accomplish liposomal codelivery of chemotherapeutic agents. Sci. This increased circulation time can also lead to higher potency and specific antitumor activity. However, the design of effective cancer nanotherapeutics remains a great challenge, and only a few nanoformulations have entered clinical trials. Adv. Du et al., Tailor-made dual pH-sensitive polymerdoxorubicin nanoparticles for efficient anticancer drug delivery. The in vitro cytotoxicity studies revealed that doxorubicin formulations had increased antiproliferative effect and was time and dose-dependent as depicted in Fig. 2018;9(1):3490. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05467-z. Cho et al., Understanding the role of surface charges in cellular adsorption versus internalization by selectively removing gold nanoparticles on the cell surface with a I2/KI Etchant. 111, 11061115 (2018), L. Ansari et al., Improved anticancer efficacy of epirubicin by magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles: in vitro and in vivo studies. In the paradigm of nanomedicine, nanotechnology is being embraced to obtain effective drug delivery, establish novel in vitro diagnostics, and develop nano-based implants [7, 10, 11]. Adv. In fact, significant strides have been made towards the application of engineered nanomaterials for the treatment of cancer with high specificity, sensitivity and efficacy. Mock et al., Evidence for distinct mechanisms of uptake and antitumor activity of secretory phospholipase A2 responsive liposome in prostate cancer. Nanotechnol. 7, 235242 (2012), CAS Kirpotin et al., Antibody targeting of long-circulating lipidic nanoparticles does not increase tumor localization but does increase internalization in animal models. Google Scholar, J.D. Advantage and Disadvantage in Drug Delivery Systems - ResearchGate Ferritin: A Promising Nanoreactor and Nanocarrier for Bionanotechnology. B Biol. Photobiol. Thus, it is imperative to develop effective formulations that can address the above cited challenges and provide selective targeting of tumor sites without significant damage to the viability of healthy tissues [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Recently, a theranostic nanoparticle to enhance intra-tumoral drug delivery by overcoming drug resistance and providing image-guided drug delivery by reducing the systemic toxicity was developed using iron oxide nanoparticles. C 60, 569578 (2016), Y. Zhong et al., Ligand-directed active tumor-targeting polymeric nanoparticles for cancer chemotherapy. From the above discussion, it can be concluded that nanomaterials for therapeutic applications need to be engineered carefully with respect to their size and shape, because both of them have noteworthy impact on the uptake process of cells, and can potentially induce cellular responses. Res. Another polymeric nanoparticle platform that is gaining significant attention as drug delivery systems is polymer micelle nanoparticles. Adv. J. Nanomed. Before A schematic representation of the major challenges in the delivery of cancer nanotherapeutics is depicted in Fig. Current chemotherapy faces problems such as lack of specificity, cytotoxicity, induction of multi-drug resistance and stem-like cells growth. Among the carbon nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene have been most commonly investigated in cancer therapeutic applications. J. 153, 111120 (2015), W. Shao et al., A new carbon nanotube-based breast cancer drug delivery system: preparation and in vitro analysis using paclitaxel. Biotechnol. Int. This gradient in the pH profile between pathological cells and normal cells can be exploited for controlled drug release. Later, we elaborate upon the design and fabrication of nanomaterials, along with different types of nanomaterials used in cancer therapeutics including liposomes, dendrimers, inorganic nanomaterials and polymeric nanomaterials. Pharm. Nat. Recent studies have demonstrated that size and shape of the gold (Au) nanoparticles influence thetransfection efficiency of small interfering RNA (siRNA). eCollection 2020. J. Pharm. 12, 77637776 (2017), Y. Li et al., Polyethylenimine-functionalized silver nanoparticle-based co-delivery of paclitaxel to induce HepG2 cell apoptosis. Sun et al., Temperature-sensitive gold nanoparticle-coated pluronic-PLL nanoparticles for drug delivery and chemo-photothermal therapy. Biotechnol. Int. Biomacromolecules 15(6), 19551969 (2014), N. Kamaly et al., Targeted polymeric therapeutic nanoparticles: design, development and clinical translation. Mater. J. Pharm. In one study, anti-HER2 targeting ligand moieties functionalized on the surface of liposome increased the cellular uptake of the nanoparticles in HER2-expressing cancer cells. A range of inorganic nanomaterials have been developed in recent past with meticulous properties and employed in biomedical applications especially in cancer treatment and management. 2018;25(34):4224-4268. doi: 10.2174/0929867324666170830113755. Nano Convergence Lee, C.-W. Cho, Mechanisms of drug release from advanced drug formulations such as polymeric-based drug-delivery systems and lipid nanoparticles. 99 Limitations of chemotherapy include inefficient drug delivery at the target site due to physical and biochemical barriers and This phenomenon has been explained based on molecular saturation, improper orientation of ligands, bond constraints, and steric constraints from neighboring molecules on the nanoparticles [56]. All the authors have made substantial intellectual contribution in the preparation of the manuscript. J. Nanomed. Biophys. 6 [188]. Nanotechnology for Cancer Therapy Based on Chemotherapy 132(3), 10181022 (2010), P. Ghosh et al., Gold nanoparticles in delivery applications. Saudi Pharm. 520(1), 126138 (2017), C.T. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are known for significant adverse effects [2], with most methods targeting non-specifically any rapidly dividing cells irrespective of whether they are tumorous or not. In addition, many other factors have a profound consequence on nanomaterials uptake and distribution in cells. An official website of the United States government. A Transmission electron micrographs of Au nanoparticles displaying 13nm spheres, 50nm spheres and 40nm stars; B cellular uptake kinetics of Au nanoparticles-siRNA constructs by cells showing size and shape dependent uptake; C transmission electron images illustrating the process of cellular uptake after treatment with 0.5nM of Au nanoparticles-siRNA constructs for 24h. The vesicle membranes disrupted by the treatment with 50nm spheres is signified by orange arrows, and the nanoconstructs distributed outside the vesicles is represented by yellow arrows. J. Rev. The dual drug-loaded thermo-sensitive liposomes exhibited significantly larger release rate of both the drugs at 40C and displayed synergistic inhibition of breast cancer cell proliferation. Likewise, PEG capped Au nanoparticles coated with [Pt(1R,2R-diaminocyclohexane) (H2O)2]2NO3 were takenup, and localized in the lung epithelial and colon cancer cell lines showing more significant effects than the drug alone [128]. ACS Nano 1(1), 5056 (2007), R.P. The in vivo antitumor studies suggested that the tumor volume drastically reduced in mice in the presence of magnetic nanocarrier, magnet and laser. Proc. ACS Appl. These features have led many researchers to load cargos on to mesoporous silica nanomaterials for transporting them to the tumor tissues [218,219,220]. Lett. eCollection 2023. Targeted therapy using theranostic IGF1-iron oxide nanoparticles-doxorubicin significantly inhibited the growth of pancreatic PDX tumors showing potential for improved therapeutic outcomes as shown in Fig. Thus, it is fundamental to engineer the nanomaterials to maximize their utility in biomedical applications. The study has shown the sustained and pH-dependent release, in which the volume of the tumor reduced compared tothe untreated control. Mater. Further, HKD appreciates the Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC) in the School of Sciences, RMIT University, Australia for an Honorary Visiting Research Fellowship. Careers. B Biointerfaces 170, 718728 (2018), A. Jhaveri et al., Transferrin-targeted, resveratrol-loaded liposomes for the treatment of glioblastoma. 24(48), 64336437 (2012), P. Shi et al., pH-responsive NIR enhanced drug release from gold nanocages possesses high potency against cancer cells. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help 2017;37:1. J. Tools of Nanotechnology for Cancer Therapy. It is recommended that additional studies must be carried out to address the toxicity concerns, since the metal-based nanoparticles are easy to tune with the required properties for efficient loading of drugs and their potential may be excessively high in the field of biology and medicine.