Recent progress in nanotechnology for cancer therapy

The application of nanotechnology significantly benefits clinical practice in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and management. Especially, nanotechnology offers a promise for the targeted delivery of drugs, genes, and proteins to tumor tissues and therefore alleviating the toxicity of anticancer agents in healthy tissues. This article reviews current nanotechnology platforms for anticancer drug delivery, including polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, dendrimers, nanoshells, carbon nanotubes, superparamagnetic nanoparticles, and nucleic acid-based nanoparticles [DNA, RNA interference (RNAi), and antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)] as well as nanotechnologies for combination therapeutic strategies, for example, nanotechnologies combined with multidrug-resistance modulator, ultrasound, hyperthermia, or photodynamic therapy. This review raises awareness of the advantages and challenges for the application of these therapeutic nanotechnologies, in light of some recent advances in nanotechnologic drug delivery and cancer therapy.