Engineered liposomal nanoparticles have unique characteristics
as cargo carriers in cancer care and therapeutics. Liposomal theranostics
have shown significant progress in preclinical and clinical cancer
models in the past few years. Liposomal hybrid systems have not only
been approved by the FDA but have also reached the market level. Nanosized
liposomes are clinically proven systems for delivering multiple therapeutic
as well as imaging agents to the target sites in (i) cancer theranostics
of solid tumors, (ii) image-guided therapeutics, and (iii) combination
therapeutic applications. The choice of diagnostics and therapeutics
can intervene in the theranostics property of the engineered system.
However, integrating imaging and therapeutics probes within lipid
self-assembly “liposome” may compromise their overall
theranostics performance. On the other hand, liposomal systems suffer
from their fragile nature, site-selective tumor targeting, specific
biodistribution and premature leakage of loaded cargo molecules before
reaching the target site. Various engineering approaches, viz., grafting,
conjugation, encapsulations, etc., have been investigated to overcome
the aforementioned issues. It has been studied that surface-engineered
liposomes demonstrate better tumor selectivity and improved therapeutic
activity and retention in cells/or solid tumors. It should be noted
that several other parameters like reproducibility, stability, smooth
circulation, toxicity of vital organs, patient compliance, etc. must
be addressed before using liposomal theranostics agents in solid tumors
or clinical models. Herein, we have reviewed the importance and challenges
of liposomal medicines in targeted cancer theranostics with their
preclinical and clinical progress and a translational overview.