Nanomedicine for Treatment of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and the primary cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the United States and rest of the world. Due to diagnosis at an advanced stage, it is associated with a high mortality in a majority of patients. In recent years, enormous advances have occurred in the development and application of nanotechnology in the detection, diagnosis, and therapy of cancer. This progress has led to the development of the emerging field of "cancer nanomedicine." Nanoparticle-based therapeutic systems have gained immense popularity due to their bioavailability, in vivo stability, intestinal absorption, solubility, sustained and targeted delivery, and therapeutic effectiveness of several anticancer agents. Currently, a plethora of nanocarrier formulations are utilized including lipid-based, polymeric and branched polymeric, metal-based, magnetic, and mesoporous silica. In lung cancer, nanoparticle-based therapeutics is paving the way in the diagnosis, imaging, screening, and treatment of primary and metastatic tumors. The application and expansion of novel nanocarriers for drug delivery is an exciting and challenging research filed, in particular for the delivery of emerging cancer therapies. Some of the current progress and challenges in nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for lung cancer treatment are discussed.