The creation of smart nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems, also known as Smart Drug Delivery Systems(SDDSs), was prompted by the nonspecific dispersion and unpredictable release of pharmaceuticals in Conventional Drug Delivery Systems (CDDSs). To lessen the adverse consequences associated with CDDSs, SDDSs can deliver medications to target locations with lower dose frequency and in a spatially controlled way. Chemotherapy is commonly used to treat cancer, the world’s second most common cause of death. The SDDSs have sparked a lot of attention as a potential alternative to chemotherapy because of their site-specific drug delivery. SDDSs are interested in smart nanocarriers, which are nanoparticles that deliver drugs. Smart nanocarriers, targeting mechanisms, and stimulation strategies make up a smart drug delivery system.This review highlights the recent development of SDDSs for several smart nanocarriers, including liposomes, micelles, dendrimers, meso-porous silica nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles,carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, and hydrogels. Also, the challenges and future research scope in the field of SDDSs are also presented.
1. Introduction
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death but is surpassed by cardiovascular diseases. Chemotherapy plays a vital role in treating undetectable cancer micro-focuses and free cancer cells. Chemotherapy utilizes chemical substances to kill or stop cancer cell development. Regarding that cancer cells are developed often much faster than those are healthy ones, fast-developing cells are the main target of chemotherapy, but healthy cells are also rapidly growing, chemotherapy medications target those fast-growing healthy cells. By 2030, approximately 13.1 million cancer-related deaths have been predicted by the World Health Organization (WHO). These situations are usually treated with traditional therapy, but this traditional approach has unwanted side effects on healthy body parts. Conventional drugs, due to their low specificity, cause serious toxicity in our bodies. These pharmaceuticals have low aqueous solubility, are less bioavailable, and have less therapeutic benefit. Nanotechnology growth has a major influence on the treatment of cancer.
The selection of a suitable nanocarrier type follows the choice of the appropriate strategies to classify cancer cells. To identify cancer areas, SDDS uses the physiochemical differences between cancer and healthy cells. There are two main approaches to accurately identifying the site of the cancer cell. To assess the cancer site indirectly, passive targeting uses an enhanced permeability (EPR) effect. Active targeting uses overexpressed cell surface receptors in cancer cells directly as a guided missile to kill cancer cells. The next step is to release drugs at a certain concentration at a certain location. Depending on the nature and smartness of the nanocarriers, drugs can be released from the nanocarriers by external or internal stimuli. The idea of these innovative therapies is either to block signals that help malignant cells grow and divide uncontrollably, to kill cancer cells by inducing apoptosis, to stimulate the immune system, or to target the delivery of chemotherapy agents specifically to cancer cells, to minimize the death of normal cells and to avoid undesirable side effects.
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