Nanotechnology for the delivery of phytochemicals in cancer therapy

The aim of this review is to summarize advances that have been made in the delivery of phytochemicals for cancer therapy by the use of nanotechnology. Over recent decades, much research effort has been invested in developing phytochemicals as cancer therapeutic agents. However, several impediments to their wide spread use as drugs still have to be overcome. Among these are low solubility, poor penetration into cells, high hepatic disposition, and narrow therapeutic index. Rapid clearance or uptake by normal tissues and wide tissue distribution result in low drug accumulation in the target tumor sites can result in undesired drug exposure in normal tissues. Association with or encapsulation in nanoscale drug carriers is a potential strategy to address these problems. This review discussed lessons learned on the use of nanotechnology for delivery of phytochemicals that been tested in clinical trials or are moving towards the clinic.