Advances in polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery systems in cancer: Production and characterization

Abstract Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), dealing with structures less than 1 billionth of a meter, began to enter into mainstream sciences and technology some 20 years ago. Biomedical applications of NPs include the development of drug delivery systems (DDSs) in cancer. Among these applications, different materials and production methods have been reported, emerging a new and exciting field of application, known as nanobiotechnology. This chapter aims to (i) introduce main concepts and materials used in polymeric NPs for DDSs; (ii) present strategies for preparing polymeric NPs; (iii) resume general characterization techniques used for polymeric NPs development; (iv) overview the main applications covering a brief patent research; and (v) provide recent excerpts in future perspectives of polymeric NPs in oncology pathologies.