Journal of Advanced Research

Journal of Advanced Research

Volume 15, January 2019, Pages 1-18
Journal of Advanced Research

Review
Smart nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems for cancer therapy and toxicity studies: A review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2018.06.005Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Studied eight (8) promising nanocarriers for anti-cancer drug delivery.

  • Studied up-to-date strategies for cancer site targeting used in SDDSs.

  • Various stimulus techniques utilized for drug release at targeted sites are mentioned.

  • Studied toxicity of various nanocarriers used in SDDSs.

  • Challenges and research scope of nanocarriers in cancer therapy also highlighted.

Abstract

Nonspecific distribution and uncontrollable release of drugs in conventional drug delivery systems (CDDSs) have led to the development of smart nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems, which are also known as Smart Drug Delivery Systems (SDDSs). SDDSs can deliver drugs to the target sites with reduced dosage frequency and in a spatially controlled manner to mitigate the side effects experienced in CDDSs. Chemotherapy is widely used to treat cancer, which is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Site-specific drug delivery led to a keen interest in the SDDSs as an alternative to chemotherapy. Smart nanocarriers, nanoparticles used to carry drugs, are at the focus of SDDSs. A smart drug delivery system consists of smart nanocarriers, targeting mechanisms, and stimulus techniques. This review highlights the recent development of SDDSs for a number of smart nanocarriers, including liposomes, micelles, dendrimers, meso-porous silica nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, super paramagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and quantum dots. The nanocarriers are described in terms of their structures, classification, synthesis and degree of smartness. Even though SDDSs feature a number of advantages over chemotherapy, there are major concerns about the toxicity of smart nanocarriers; therefore, a substantial study on the toxicity and biocompatibility of the nanocarriers has been reported. Finally, the challenges and future research scope in the field of SDDSs are also presented. It is expected that this review will be widely useful for those who have been seeking new research directions in this field and for those who are about to start their studies in smart nanocarrier-based drug delivery.

Keywords

Smart drug delivery
Smart nanocarrier
Nanocarrier functionalization
Toxicity of nanocarrier
Cancer cell targeting
Drug release stimulus

Cited by (0)

Sarwar Hossen received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in Applied physics, Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh in 2007 and 2008, respectively. He has been teaching physics since 2011 in the National University, Bangladesh as a member of BCS (General Education), a prestigious civil service in Bangladesh. He is enthusiastic about nanoparticles and the application of nanoparticles for biomedical applications, especially in smart drug delivery.

M. Khalid Hossain has received his Master of Science (M.Sc) degree in Applied Physics, Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh in 2009. During his M.Sc program, he mainly focused on the preparation of amorphous Fe73.5Cu1Nb3Si13.5B9 magnetic ribbon by a rapid quenching method; then, the nanostructure and ultra-soft magnetic properties were developed by heat treatment. He has been a research scientist of the Institute of Electronics, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), Dhaka, Bangladesh since 2012. His research interests include energy materials, micro/nano fabrication, thin films, photovoltaic devices and advanced functional materials. He has published 17SCI(E) articles as author and co-author in various reputable peer reviewed journals.

M. Khairul Basher received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in Applied Physics, Electronics & Communication Engineering from the University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2007 and 2008, respectively. He also completed a M. Phil degree in Material Science from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. After completing M.Sc., he joined the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission as a scientist in 2012. He is now working as a research scientist in the Institute of Electronics, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. His research interest mainly focuses on nanostructured materials and energy materials.

M. Nasrul Haque Mia received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in Applied Physics, Electronics & Communication Engineering from the Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh in 2003 and 2004, respectively. After completing his M.Sc., he joined the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission as a scientist in 2009. He is now working as a research scientist and divisional head of the VLSI technology laboratory in the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. His research interest mainly focuses on nanostructured thin films for device applications.

M. Tayebur Rahman received his B.Sc. (Eng.) and M.Sc. (Eng.) degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh in 2014 and 2015, respectively. During his B.Sc. program, he explored the area of nanotechnology in medicine sectors, and, during his M.Sc. program, he fabricated ceramic nanoparticles (Fe2O3, TiO2 and NiFe2O4) dispersed in HDPE and UPR polymer matrix as novel nanocomposites to evaluate the mechanical, thermal, optical, and electrical properties. Currently, he is working as a research fellow in the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR). His research interest mainly focuses on nanomaterials for bio-medical applications, nanocomposites, thin films and photovoltaic devices.

M. Jalal Uddin received his Master of Science (MS) degree in Nanomolecular Science from Jacobs University Bremen, Germany in 2013. During his MS program, he mainly focused on the preparation of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures on flexible and cost-effective PET substrates and developed the modeling of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) to quantify its electrical and physical properties. He has been a senior faculty member of the department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh since 2004. Currently, he is researching as a PhD fellow at the Nano & Bio-IT Convergence Lab, KwangWoon University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. His research interests include photovoltaic devices, nano/micro sensors and smart-biochips for environmental and bio-medical applications.

Peer review under responsibility of Cairo University.