Traditional
treatment approaches for cancer involve intravenous
chemotherapy or other forms of drug delivery. These therapeutic measures
suffer from several limitations such as nonspecific targeting, poor
biodistribution, and buildup of drug resistances. However, significant
technological advancements have been made in terms of superior modes
of drug delivery over the last few decades. Technical capability in
analyzing the molecular mechanisms of tumor biology, nanotechnologyparticularly
the development of biocompatible nanoparticles, surface modification
techniques, microelectronics, and material scienceshas increased.
As a result, a significant number of nanostructured carriers that
can deliver drugs to specific cancerous sites with high efficiency
have been developed. This particular maneuver that enables the introduction
of a therapeutic nanostructured substance in the body by controlling
the rate, time, and place is defined as the nanostructured drug delivery
system (NDDS). Because of their versatility and ability to incorporate
features such as specific targeting, water solubility, stability,
biocompatibility, degradability, and ability to reverse drug resistance,
they have attracted the interest of the scientific community, in general,
and nanotechnologists as well as biomedical scientists. To keep pace
with the rapid advancement of nanotechnology, specific technical aspects
of the recent NDDSs and their prospects need to be reported coherently.
To address these ongoing issues, this review article provides an overview
of different NDDSs such as lipids, polymers, and inorganic nanoparticles.
In addition, this review also reports the challenges of current NDDSs
and points out the prospective research directions of these nanocarriers.
From our focused review, we conclude that still now the most advanced
and potent field of application for NDDSs is lipid-based, while other
significantly potential fields include polymer-based and inorganic
NDDSs. However, despite the promises, challenges remain in practical
implementations of such NDDSs in terms of dosage and stability, and
caution should be exercised regarding biocompatibility of materials.
Considering these aspects objectively, this review on NDDSs will be
particularly of interest for small-to-large scale industrial researchers
and academicians with expertise in drug delivery, cancer research,
and nanotechnology.