Advanced Nanosystems for Cancer Therapeutics: A Review

Since cancer has a very complex pathophysiology, existing cancer treatment strategies encounter several challenges such as the lack of specificity/selectivity, induction of multidrug resistance, and possible side effects/toxicity. A wide variety of organic, inorganic, and hybrid nanosystems have been designed with unique magnetic, thermal, mechanical, electrical, and optical properties for targeted cancer therapy. These advanced nanosystems with enhanced bioavailability, biocompatibility, and drug loading capacity have been developed for targeted cancer therapy to reduce toxicity and improve the targeting properties. In this context, challenges persist for their clinical translational studies and enhancement of their therapeutic efficiency as well as the optimization of synthesis conditions and large-scale production. In addition, despite promising preclinical results, the number of nanosystems available to patients is still very low, partly due to a lack of understanding of the differences among animal model species and humans that influence the behavior and functionality of these nanosystems. Regarding this, organ-on-a-chip platforms can significantly help in drug screening and delivery aspects in cancer/tumor cells as well as cancer modeling research; the organs-on-chip approach can also be helpful to analyze the cancer–immune cells interactions. Future studies should focus on the exploration of multifunctional nanosystems with synergistic chemo-photothermal, photothermal/photodynamic, and cancer immunotherapeutic potentials as well as smart nanosystems with theranostic capabilities. Herein, recent advancements pertaining to the applications of advanced nanosystems for cancer therapeutics are deliberated. Current obstacles and limitations hindering the application from research to clinical uses are also discussed while providing recommendations for a more efficient adoption of nanomaterials in the treatment of cancers.