Nanomedicine Approaches for the Delivery of Herbal Anticancer Drugs

Cancer is the most prevalent and resistant disease that indiscriminately affects people of any age, gender or social status accounting for about 18 million new cases and approximately 10 million deaths worldwide in 2018 and thus poses a huge challenge for the scientific community [1]. Molecular changes in the cellular behaviour that cause the development and progression of cancer are usually linked to genetic alterations which may be inherited or induced by endogenous and exogenous carcinogenic factors. The six hallmarks of cancer that dictate the malignant growth include self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to the anti-growth signals, tissue invasion and metastasis, unlimited replicative potential, sustained angiogenesis and evasion of apoptosis. Chemotherapy, the mainstay of cancer treatment, though reduced the mortality/morbidity, still the efficacy, safety and convenience for the patient remain a great challenge. The anticancer agents have a narrow therapeutic index, develop multidrug resistance (MDR) that can be innate and/or adaptive and non-specifically distribute to tissues upon intravenous administration resulting in severe side effects to healthy tissues [2].