Nanotechnology application in cancer treatment

Chemotherapy has been the main known treatment for cancer diseases. However, its achievement rate remains low, mainly because of the restricted accessibility of drugs to the tumor tissue, their painful toxicity, and development of multi-drug resistance. In recent years, either better understanding of tumor biology or development of the ever-growing field of nanotechnology has proposed new treatment strategies for cancer diseases. Conspiciously, at nano-scale range, particles act in surprising ways and the properties of materials alter as their size approaches the nanoscale which causes them to offer novel optical, electronic, and structural properties. In novel pharmaceutical science, nanoparticles engineer in such a way that is capable of carrying large doses of chemotherapeutic agents into cancer cells, while sparing normal tissues from dose-limiting side effects. New targeted drug delivery approaches using different nanosystems and bioconjugate techniques providing possibilities in developing successful cancer therapy. The present review summarizes two different targeted drug delivery methods (passive and active targeting) and also provides an insight into properties of nanoparticles in targeted drug delivery systems, bioconjugation, and challenges in this regard.