Nanocarriers for Cancer Diagnosis and Targeted Chemotherapy

Book excerpt: Nanocarriers for Cancer Diagnosis and Targeted Chemotherapy reviews the principles and applications of nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery. Drug targeting involves active and passive strategies that exploit both the use of ligands for interactions and the physical and chemical properties of nanocarriers and micro-environments at target sites. Multidrug resistance and adverse side effects associated with anticancer drugs have attracted greater scientific attention and led formulation scientists to specifically target these drugs to target sites. Nanocarriers like liposomes, niosomes, gold nanorods, carbon nanotubes, and micelles are discussed for the delivery of drugs to specific disease sites. This is an important reference source for researchers in the biomedical and biomaterials fields who want to gain an understanding on how nanotechnology is used for earlier diagnoses and more effective cancer treatment. - Explores the fundamental principles of drug targeting through different nano-carriers, highlighting major applications - Shows how the use of nanocarriers is leading to quicker cancer diagnosis and more effective treatment - Discusses the major challenges of using nanocarriers for drug delivery and assesses how to overcome these barriers