A MINI REVIEW ON CANCER AND ANTICANCER DRUGS

The development of chemotherapy using conventional anticancer drugs has been hindered due to some drawbacks related to their poor water solubility and poor pharmacokinetics, leading to severe adverse side effects and multidrug resistance in patients. Nanocarriers were developed to palliate these problems by improving drug delivery, opening the era of nanomedicine in oncology. However, despite attractive results being obtained in preclinical studies, many well-designed nanodrugs fell short of expectations when tested in patients, evidencing the gap between nanoparticle design and their clinical translation. The aim of this review is to evaluate the extent of nanotherapeutics used in oncology. The reasons that prevent nanodrugs from expanding to clinic are discussed, and the efforts that must be taken to take full advantage of the great potential of nanomedicine are highlighted. Keywords: Cancer, Anticancer, Nanoparticles