Nanocarriers in Drug Delivery: A Mechanistic Review

<p><span lang="EN">Nanotechnology has garnered growing attention recently because of its potential to diagnose and treat numerous tumors, as nanocarriers have been used to overcome the challenges that come with conventional antitumor drug delivery systems, such as not targeting the sites of action, significant side effects, burst release, and damaging surrounding normal cells.<span>  </span>Nanocarriers offer preferential accumulation at the target sites and can increase the therapeutic efficacy and bioavailability of antitumor medications. There are numerous nanocarriers, but only a small number of them have received clinical approval for their intended use in delivering antitumor agents to specific locations. The current review is separated into three sections: the first section presents an overview of nanocarriers and the relevance of these in delivering anticancer drugs, the second section includes targeting mechanisms and surface functionalization on nanocarriers and the third section consists of an overview of selected tumors (e.g., breast, lungs, colorectal and pancreatic tumors,) plus the uses of relevant nanocarriers for those Tumors. This shows the potential of nanotechnology in treating tumors in a variety of ways.<span>  </span></span></p>