Tumoral delivery of nanotherapeutics

Abstract Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Conventional chemotherapy which has been the mainstay of cancer therapy is associated with issues of poor intracellular uptake, off target toxicity, resistance, etc. Nanotherapeutics that include usage of nanocarriers loaded with therapeutic agents help to avoid these issues. Multifunctional nanocarriers endowed with dual functions of imaging and therapy (theranostics); nanocarriers delivering combination of drugs/genes; nanotherapeutics acting via different modes of therapy; nanoparticles selectively targeting tumor cells; smart nanocarriers that release the payload in response to some stimulus inside the cancer cell and nanocarriers to specifically tackle metastatic spread of cancer exemplify the immense potential of nanoparticles in tumor therapy. Advances in material science, tumor biology, immunology, and nanoformulation technology have fostered development of various antitumor nanotherapeutics. However, it is imperative to understand the intricate features of the tumor microenvironment that have a direct and significant influence on intracellular uptake, intratumoral distribution, and efficacy of these nanotherapeutics. Recent studies have highlighted the paramount role of tumor microenvironment and also explored an array of strategies to modulate the tumor microenvironment for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of cancer nanotherapeutics. This chapter focuses on various modes of tumor treatment such as chemotherapy, gene therapy, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, immunotherapy, and sonodynamic therapy; barriers to tumoral delivery of nanotherapeutics; and potential role of nanocarriers in tumoral delivery of therapeutics.