Published Paper Details:

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, and the limitations of conventional therapies including poor drug selectivity, systemic toxicity, and multidrug resistance have accelerated the shift toward advanced nanotechnology-based treatment strategies. Nanomedicine offers remarkable potential to overcome these challenges through the development of smart nanocarriers capable of targeted delivery, improved tumour accumulation, and controlled drug release. This review provides a comprehensive overview of tumour-targeting mechanisms, including passive targeting via the Enhanced Permeability and Retention (EPR) effect and active targeting mediated by ligands such as antibodies, peptides, aptamers, and small molecules. Various nanocarriers including liposomes, dendrimers, polymeric micelles, carbon nanotubes, and gold nanoparticles are examined with respect to their structural features, advantages, and therapeutic applications in cancer treatment. Additionally, the role of endogenous and exogenous stimuli (pH, redox conditions, enzymes, temperature, light, and magnetic fields) in designing smart, stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems is discussed. Beyond therapeutic advances, this review highlights the economic and commercialization challenges faced by nanomedicine, including high production costs and limited large-scale industrial support, while emphasizing the long-term cost-effectiveness and clinical value of nanotherapeutics. Emerging approaches such as DNA-based nanostructures, hybrid nanoparticles, and next-generation cancer immunotherapies including nanoparticle-enabled cancer vaccines underscore the future direction of personalized oncology. Overall, nanotechnology continues to redefine cancer therapy by offering more precise, efficient, and patient-specific treatment options with the potential to greatly improve therapeutic outcomes.