Design of nanoparticles as drug carriers for cancer therapy

This review explores the recent chemotherapeutic work on drug delivery using nanoparticles as carriers for the targeted treatment of cancer. Compared to direct drug delivery, delivery through a carrier can increase the efficacy of a drug, but decrease the side-effects by utilizing the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and tumor-specific targeting. The search for efficient and safe transport vehicles (carriers) to achieve better drug availability at the target site has been a challenging yet exciting area of research. Current interest focuses on the colloidal nanoparticles (diameter