Title:Soft Matter Assemblies as Nanomedicine Platforms for Cancer Chemotherapy: A Journey from Market Products Towards Novel Approaches
Volume: 15
Issue: 4
Author(s): Eliézer Jäger and Fernando C. Giacomelli
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Biodegradable nanoparticles, Cancer therapy, Liposomes, Nanomedicine, Polymer-drug conjugates, Polymeric
micelles, Pre-clinical and clinical progress of nanomedicines, Soft matter.
Abstract: The current review aims to outline the likely medical applications of nanotechnology and the potential
of the emerging field of nanomedicine. Nanomedicine can be defined as the investigation area encompassing
the design of diagnostics and therapeutics at the nanoscale, including nanobots, nanobiosensors,
nanoparticles and other nanodevices, for the remediation, prevention and diagnosis of a variety of illnesses.
The ultimate goal of nanomedicine is to improve patient quality-of-life. Because nanomedicine includes the
rational design of an enormous number of nanotechnology-based products focused on miscellaneous diseases, a variety of
nanomaterials can be employed. Therefore, this review will focus on recent advances in the manufacture of soft matterbased
nanomedicines specifically designed to improve diagnostics and cancer chemotherapy efficacy. It will be particularly
highlighted liposomes, polymer-drug conjugates, drug-loaded block copolymer micelles and biodegradable polymeric
nanoparticles, emphasizing the current investigations and potential novel approaches towards overcoming the remaining
challenges in the field as well as formulations that are in clinical trials and marketed products.
