Trends in Nanotechnology for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common and progressively increased form of cancer mostly among women. Various therapies have been tried to cure this cancer but none of them is without side effect. These might be attributed to the indiscriminate destruction of normal cells along with cancer cells or other systemic effects of the chemotherapeutic agent. These difficulties initiate the urge to develop targeted drug delivery systems. Nanotechnology deals with formulation of nanostructures for innovative drug delivery. Nanodrug delivery systems are being used for targeting in the treatment of various diseases, hence this concept is also applicable to the treatment of breast cancer. Nanoparticles have an additional effect of improvement in the solubility of drugs such as paclitaxel, reduction in dose and toxicity, increased cellular uptake etc. Owing to smaller size these are easily taken by tumor cells and effectively encapsulate the hydrophobic drugs. This review is aimed to summarize the various management therapies majorly focusing on the recent nanodrug delivery systems to target chemotherapeutic agents in the breast cancer cells. Various nanodrug systems are in clinical trials and few of them are already in the market. These are promising tools for future cancer treatment and research.