Applications of Nanoparticles for Anticancer Drug Delivery: A Review

Biodegradable nanometer-sized particles have novel structural and physical properties that are attracting great interests from pharmaceuticals for the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs and imaging contrast agents. These smart nanoparticles are designed to ferry chemotherapeutic agents or therapeutic genes into malignant cells while sparing healthy cells. In this review, we describe currently clinically used chemotherapeutics in nanoparticle formulation and discuss the current status of nanoparticles developed as targeting delivery systems for anticancer drugs, with emphasis on formulations of micelles, liposome, polymeric nanoparticles, gold nanoparticle dendrimers, and bionanocapsules.