Nanodelivery systems: An efficient and target-specific approach for drug-resistant cancers

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper

Nanodelivery systems address drug-resistant cancers by improving the performance of anticancer drugs while reducing adverse effects that arise from chemotherapy exposure of healthy tissues and the development of multidrug resistance (MDR). The review evaluates how functionalized nanosystems can bypass drug efflux, regulate drug release, and disrupt tumor metabolism. It surveys MDR mechanisms, highlights advanced nanomedicine methods for creating and assessing nanocarriers, and discusses recent developments, potential impact, and limitations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Cancer burden and limitations of chemotherapy

Multidrug resistance mechanisms

Tumor microenvironment barriers

Nanotechnology approaches for MDR malignancies

Passive tumor targeting via leaky vasculature

Nanocarrier types and materials

DOI: 10. 1002/cam4 .6502 REVIEW Nanodelivery systems: An efficient and target-specific approach for drug-resistant cancers Sumel Ashique1 | Ashish Garg2 | Afzal Hussain3 | Arshad Farid4 | Prashant Kumar5,6 | Farzad Taghizadeh-Hesary7,8 1Department of Pharmaceutics, Pandaveswar School of Pharmacy, Pandaveswar, India 2Guru Ramdas Khalsa Institute of Science and Technology, Pharmacy, Jabalpur, India 3Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 4Gomal Center of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan 5Teerthanker Mahaveer College of Pharmacy, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, India 6Department of Pharmaceutics, Amity Institute of Pharmacy, Amity University Madhya Pradesh (AUMP), Gwalior, India 7ENT and Head and Neck Research Center and Department, The Five Senses Health Institute, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 8Clinical Oncology Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Correspondence Farzad Taghizadeh-Hesary, ENT and Head and Neck Research Center and Department, The Five Senses Health Institute, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Email: [farzadth89@gmail.com](farzadth89@gmail.com), [taghizadeh_hesary.f@iums.ac.ir](taghizadeh_hesary.f@iums.ac.ir) Sumel Ashique, Department of Pharmaceutics, Pandaveswar School of Pharmacy, Pandaveswar, West Bengal 713378, India. [ashiquesumel007@gmail.com](ashiquesumel007@gmail.com) Abstract Background: Cancer treatment is still a global health challenge. Nowadays, chemotherapy is widely applied for treating cancer and reducing its burden. However, its application might be in accordance with various adverse effects by exposing the healthy tissues and multidrug resistance (MDR), leading to disease relapse or metastasis. In addition, due to tumor heterogeneity and the varied pharmacokinetic features of prescribed drugs, combination therapy has only shown modestly improved results in MDR malignancies. Nanotechnology has been explored as a potential tool for cancer treatment, due to the efficiency of nanoparticles to function as a vehicle for drug delivery. Methods: With this viewpoint, functionalized nanosystems have been investigated as a potential strategy to overcome drug resistance. Results: This approach aims to improve the efficacy of anticancer medicines while decreasing their associated side effects through a range of mechanisms, such as bypassing drug efflux, controlling drug release, and disrupting metabolism. This review discusses the MDR mechanisms contributing to therapeutic failure, the most cutting-edge approaches used in nanomedicine to create and assess nanocarriers, and designed nanomedicine to counteract MDR with emphasis on recent developments, their potential, and limitations. Conclusions: Studies have shown that nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery confers distinct benefits over traditional pharmaceuticals, including This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2023 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. improved biocompatibility, stability, permeability, retention effect, and targeting capabilities. KEYWORDS cancer, chemotherapy, drug delivery, drug resistance, nanomedicine 1 | INTRODUCTION Cancer accounts for a significant portion of worldwide deaths, expected to cause 17 million deaths by 2030.1 Despite recent advances, chemotherapy is still the mainstay of cancer treatment. However, it is often insufficiently selective for tumor cells resulting in various adverse effects like bone marrow suppression, neurointestinal and gastrointestinal toxicities, immunosuppression, alopecia, healing defect, and vomiting. Cancer cells may become resistant to various chemoth

FAQs

Why is chemotherapy often insufficient in drug-resistant cancers?

Chemotherapy can be insufficiently selective for tumor cells, causing adverse toxicities. Tumor cells can develop multidrug resistance (MDR), leading to treatment failure and relapse.

What MDR mechanisms are discussed as drivers of therapeutic failure?

The review describes mechanisms such as enhanced DNA damage repair, inhibition of apoptotic signaling, changes in drug target molecules, detoxification via overexpressed proteins, and upregulation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) pumps that efflux chemotherapeutics.

How do nanodelivery systems aim to improve anticancer efficacy?

Nanodelivery systems are designed to improve drug availability to tumor cells and reduce side effects. They work through mechanisms including bypassing drug efflux, controlling drug release, and disrupting metabolism, while also leveraging targeting and retention effects.

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper