Recent advances in lipid-engineered multifunctional nanophytomedicines for cancer targeting

Cancer is a leading cause of death in many countries around the world. However, the efficacy of current treatments available for variety of cancers is considered to be suboptimal due to the pathophysiological challenges associated with the disease which limits the efficacy of the anticancer drugs. Moreover, the vulnerability towards off-target effects and high toxicity also limits the use of drugs for the treatment of cancers. Besides, the biopharmaceutical challenges like poor water solubility and permeability of the drugs, along with the absence of active targeting capability further decreases the utility of drugs in cancer therapy. As a result of these deficiencies, the current therapeutic strategies face noncompliance to patients for providing meaningful benefits after administration. With the advancements in nanotechnology, there has been a paradigm shift in the modalities for cancer treatment with the help of phytomedicine-based nanosized drug delivery systems coupled with variegated surface-engineering strategies for targeted drug delivery. Among these delivery systems, lipid-based nanoparticles are considered as one of the highly biocompatible, efficient and effective systems extensively explored for anticancer drug delivery. These include diverse range of systems including liposomes, nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipidic carriers and supramolecular carriers, which alters pharmacokinetic and biodistribution of the drugs for active targeting to the desired site of action by overcoming the biopharmaceutical challenges associated with anticancer drug delivery. The present review endeavours to provide a comprehensive account on the recent advances in the application of lipid-based nanostructured systems for improving the pharmacotherapeutic performance of phytomedicines for cancer targeting application.