Recent advances of polymer based nanosystems in cancer management

Abstract

Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Nanotechnology, particularly nanoparticle-based platforms, is at the leading edge of current cancer management research. Polymer-based nanosystems have piqued the interest of researchers owing to their many benefits over other conventional drug delivery systems. Polymers derived from both natural and synthetic sources have various biomedical applications due to unique qualities like porosity, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Polymers such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), polycaprolactone (PCL), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been approved by the USFDA and are being researched for drug delivery applications. They have been reported to be potential carriers for drug loading and are used in theranostic applications. In this review, we have primarily focused on the aforementioned polymers and their conjugates. In addition, the therapeutic and diagnostic implications of polymer-based nanosystems have been briefly reviewed. Furthermore, the safety of the developed polymeric formulations is crucial, and we have discussed their biocompatibility in detail. This article also discusses recent developments in block co-polymer-based nanosystems for cancer treatment. The review ends with the challenges of clinical translation of polymer-based nanosystems in drug delivery for cancer therapy.

Keywords:

• Polymeric nanosystems
• cancer
• PLGA
• PCL
• polymers
• nanoparticles

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER)-Ahmedabad.

Author contributions

Chetan Janrao: Writing – original draft. Shivani Khopade: Writing – original draft. Akshay Bavaskar: Writing – original draft. Shyam Sudhakar Gomte: Writing – original draft and editing. Tejas Girish Agnihotri: Drawing illustrations and editing the draft Aakanchha Jain: Conceptualization, supervision, writing – review and editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.