Nanoparticles and colon cancer

Abstract Colon cancer is highly prevalent globally. Even though there is significant progress in treatment, high morbidity and mortality still occur. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world and also the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy. The global incidence of colon cancer is predicted to rise by 60% to more than 2.2 million new cases and 1.1 million deaths by 2030. Adjuvant and neoadjuvant approaches, surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy alone or in combination have significantly improved survival rates. Their effectiveness remains limited due to the intrinsic buildup of resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic bioactives, dose-related toxicities, and other major side effects. To overcome these limitations, nanotechnology-based novel drug delivery systems are being developed. One rising strategy is the use of nanoparticles in drug delivery systems for colon cancer therapy. Functionalized and targeted nanoparticles could benefit from differentially expressed receptors on the surface of tumor cells, contributing effective and sustained release of anticancer bioactives. The use of several molecules as targeting moieties on the surface of nanoparticles to interact with tumor cells has been described in the past few years, allowing for the effective delivery of anticancer bioactives. This chapter summarizes the progress in the fabrication and tailoring of nanoparticle systems for colon cancer therapy.