Recent Patents on Polymeric Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a major problem which has claimed so many lives throughout the world. Although a number of resources have been utilized for the development of cancer therapeutics, no effective cure has been found so far.

OBJECTIVE: Therefore, the need for looking at evolving technologies has become very important to get a solution to this problem. Among these, nanotechnology has got so much popularity and became feasible in the past few years. Nanotechnology is presently used as the most preferable drug delivery platform for cancer therapy.

METHOD: A variety of nanomaterials based on lipid, polymer, metal or magnet have been developed for enhancement of the efficiency of current treatment.

RESULTS: Recently, polymeric-nanoparticles have been exploited as a carrier of many drug substances for invasive and non-invasive routes of delivery.

CONCLUSION: In this manuscript, the authors have reviewed different aspects of nanoparticles, recent patents and research issues related to cancer.