Infernal Mechanism

This article explores the new generation of nanotech-based therapeutic agents that have entered the fight against cancer. In 2005, a class of albumin-based nanoparticles was approved for delivery of taxanes for breast cancer, and then later for ovarian cancer. Therapeutic and imaging contrast nanoparticles now have a market size exceeding $5 billion per year, and many higher functionality nanodrugs are awaiting approval in the regulatory pipeline. An essential role of nanoparticles in cancer mechanics is in the building of the necessary tools for experimental studies of transport. The research carried out so far on cancer transport differentials has employed nanoparticles as test probes. In order to overcome the multitude of biological barriers, scientists have introduced a system of nanoparticles, designed to address the barriers in their time sequence of presentation called multistage vectors, which consist of nested particles that release consecutively. The level of specificity that can be achieved through the use of the conceptual model of cancer as a mechanical disease—and through the power of the mechanical engineering design process—will result in greater therapeutic efficacy with reduced side effects.