Advances in the Novel Nanotechnology for Targeted Tumor Therapy by Transdermal Drug Delivery

Despite modern medicine advances greatly, cancer remains a serious challenge to world health for which effective methods of treatment have hardly been developed yet. However, throughout recent years, rapid-developing nanotechnology has provided a new outlook on cancer therapy by transdermal drug delivery. By disrupting the stratum corneum, drugs are delivered through the skin and navigated to the tumor site by drug delivery systems such as nanogels, microneedles, etc. The superiorities include the improvement of drug pharmacokinetics as well as reduced side effects. This paper reviews the reported novel development of transdermal drug delivery systems for targeted cancer therapy. Advanced techniques for penetrating the skin will be discussed as well.