Open AccessNanotherapeutics to Overcome Conventional Cancer Chemotherapy Limitations
Author(s) -
Moorthi Chidambaram,
R. Manavalan,
K. Kathiresan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1482-1826
DOI - 10.18433/j30c7d
Subject(s) - chemosensitizer , multiple drug resistance , mesoporous silica , poloxamer , chemotherapy , bioavailability , cancer , cancer cell , nanomedicine , solid lipid nanoparticle , nanotechnology , drug resistance , chemistry , nanoparticle , liposome , drug delivery , micelle , pharmacology , aqueous solution , materials science , medicine , biochemistry , biology , polymer , antibiotics , organic chemistry , catalysis , mesoporous material , microbiology and biotechnology , copolymer
Cancer is one of the major causes of death worldwide and chemotherapy is a major therapeutic approach for the treatment which may be used alone or combined with other forms of therapy. However, conventional chemotherapy suffers lack of aqueous solubility, lack of selectivity and multidrug resistance. Nanotherapeutics is rapidly progressing aimed to solve several limitations of conventional drug delivery systems. Nonspecific target of cancer chemotherapy leads to damage rapidly proliferating normal cells and can be significantly reduced through folate and transferrin mediated nanotherapeutics which are aimed to target cancerous cells. Multidrug resistance is challenge in cancer chemotherapy which can be significantly reversed by solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, nanoparticulated chemosensitizer, nanoparticluated poloxamer and magnetic nanoparticles. Hydrophobic nature of chemotherapeutics leads to poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability which can be overcome by nanocrystals, albumin based nanoparticles, liposomal formulation, polymeric micelles, cyclodextrin and chitosan based nanoparticles. This review focuses the role of nanotherapeutics to overcome lack of selectivity, multidrug resistance and lack of aqueous solubility of conventional cancer chemotherapy.