Nanoparticles for delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to tumors.

Despite decades of research, progress in cancer chemotherapy is relatively slow, hampered, in part, by the lack of appropriate mechanisms to deliver anticancer drugs selectively to tumor tissues. This is a challenging task, as various cellular, anatomical and physiological barriers impede effective delivery of drugs to tumors. Systemic or oral administration can cause severe toxicity, which limits the therapeutic potential of anticancer drugs. Therefore, the most important goal of drug delivery is to minimize the exposure of normal tissues to these drugs while maintaining their therapeutic concentration in tumors. Furthermore, the risk of subtherapeutic dosing of anticancer drugs is significant as tumors may develop drug resistance as a result of biochemical changes, drug export mechanisms, or limitations in mechanisms of cellular drug importation. As the field of cancer nanomedicine advances, it is anticipated that many drug delivery-related issues concerning cancer chemotherapeutics will be resolved. This review discusses the current status of nanoparticle-mediated cancer drug delivery, challenges to its utilization, and potential implications of its use in cancer therapy.