Engineered Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy *

In medicine, nanotechnology has sparked a rapidly growing interest as it promises to solve a number of issues associated with conventional therapeutic agents, including their poor water solubility, lack of targeting capability, nonspecific distribution, systemic toxicity, and low therapeutic index. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, accounting for 8.2 million deaths worldwide in 2012. The majority of anticancer drugs currently used in the clinic are hydrophobic, including, for example, paclitaxel, which is widely used for treating ovarian, breast, and non-small-cell lung cancers. Nanoparticles have been actively explored as carriers to encapsulate and deliver hydrophilic drugs. Placing drug molecules inside or on the surface of a nanoparticle carrier allows for controlled release, which offers multiple benefits compared to the conventional dosing forms based on free drugs. Sustained release aims to deliver a drug at a predetermined rate over an extended period of time.