Cancer, natural products and nanodrug delivery systems

As an offshoot of nanotechnology, nanomedicine has made great impact in the field of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences by achieving breakthroughs in therapeutics and diagnostics of diseases in living organisms. One of the promising breakthroughs is the application of natural product-based nanoformulations for the treatment of various human diseases, such as cancer. Principally, the nanoparticle-based drug delivery system (NDDS) aims to overcome the limitations of conventional drug delivery system. NDDS improves the in vivo pharmacological and therapeutic properties of the poorly soluble drugs by dissolving, encapsulating, absorbing and/or attaching the drugs with the matrices of the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles that act as drug reservoirs also aim to control the drug release, enhance the drug uptake by targeted delivery and protect the drug against enzymatic degradation. This review presents a summary of the integration of nanotechnology and phytotherapy to achieve an improved pharmacological response and better clinical outcome in patients undergoing chemotherapy.