Progress in nanotechnology based approaches to enhance the potential of chemopreventive agents

Cancer chemoprevention is defined as the use of natural agents to suppress, reverse or prevent the carcinogenic process from turning into aggressive cancer. Over the last two decades, multiple natural dietary compounds with diverse chemical structures such flavonoids, tannins, curcumins and polyphenols have been proposed as chemopreventive agents. These agents have proven excellent anticancer potential in the laboratory setting, however, the observed effects in vitro do not translate in clinic where they fail to live up to their expectations. Among the various reasons for this discrepancy include inefficient systemic delivery and robust bioavailability. To overcome this barrier, researchers have focused towards coupling these agents with nano based encapsulation technology that in principle will enhance bioavailability and ultimately benefit clinical outcome. The last decade has witnessed rapid advancement in the development of nanochemopreventive technology with emergence of many nano encapsulated formulations of different dietary anticancer agents. This review summarizes the most up-to-date knowledge on the studies performed in nanochemoprevention, their proposed use in the clinic and future directions in which this field is heading. As the knowledge of the dynamics of nano encapsulation evolves, it is expected that researchers will bring forward newer and far more superior nanochemopreventive agents that may become standard drugs for different cancers.