Review Article

·2025 OPEN ACCESS

Advances in Drug Targeting, Drug Delivery, and Nanotechnology Applications: Therapeutic Significance in Cancer Treatment

Fatih Çiftçi YTU , Ali Can Özarslan YTU , İmran Cagri Kantarci YTU , Aslıhan Yelkenci , Özlem Tavukçuoğlu YTU , Mansour Ghorbanpour

Pharmaceutics

Abstract

In the 21st century, thanks to advances in biotechnology and developing pharmaceutical technology, significant progress is being made in effective drug design. Drug targeting aims to ensure that the drug acts only in the pathological area; it is defined as the ability to accumulate selectively and quantitatively in the target tissue or organ, regardless of the chemical structure of the active drug substance and the method of administration. With drug targeting, conventional, biotechnological and gene-derived drugs target the body's organs, tissues, and cells that can be selectively transported to specific regions. These systems serve as drug carriers and regulate the timing of release. Despite having many advantageous features, these systems have limitations in thoroughly treating complex diseases such as cancer. Therefore, combining these systems with nanoparticle technologies is imperative to treat cancer at both local and systemic levels effectively. The nanocarrier-based drug delivery method involves encapsulating target-specific drug molecules into polymeric or vesicular systems. Various drug delivery systems (DDS) were investigated and discussed in this review article. The first part discussed active and passive delivery systems, hydrogels, thermoplastics, microdevices and transdermal-based drug delivery systems. The second part discussed drug carrier systems in nanobiotechnology (carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, coated, pegylated, solid lipid nanoparticles and smart polymeric nanogels). In the third part, drug targeting advantages were discussed, and finally, market research of commercial drugs used in cancer nanotechnological approaches was included.

Keywords

Nanocarriers Drug delivery Drug Nanotechnology Transdermal Targeted drug delivery Nanobiotechnology Drug carrier Nanomedicine Pharmacology Medicine Materials science Nanoparticle

Subject Areas

Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery ·Biomaterials ·Physical Sciences
Graphene and Nanomaterials Applications ·Biomedical Engineering ·Physical Sciences
RNA Interference and Gene Delivery ·Molecular Biology ·Life Sciences

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