Novel archetype in cancer therapeutics: exploring prospective of phytonanocarriers

This paper reports various types of cancer, their incidence, and prevalence all over the globe. Along with the discovery of novel natural drugs for cancer treatment, these present a promising option which are eco-friendly, safe, and provide better acceptability in comparison to synthetic agents that carries multiple side effects. This paper provides an idea about various nanocarriers and phytochemicals, along with how their solubility and bioavailability can be enhanced in nanocarrier system. This report combines the data from various literature available on public domain including PubMed on research articles, reviews, and along with report from various national and international sites. Specialized metabolites (polyphenols, alkaloids, and steroids etc) from medicinal plants are promising alternatives to existing drugs. Studies have suggested that the treatment of cancer using plant products could be an alternative and a safe option. Studies have shown with the several cell lines as well as animal models, that phytomolecules are important in preventing/treating cancer. Phytochemicals often outperform chemical treatments by modulating a diverse array of cellular signaling pathways, promoting cell cycle arrest, apoptosis activation, and metastatic suppression, among others. However, limited water solubility, bioavailability, and cell penetration limit their potential clinical manifestations. The development of plant extract loaded nanostructures, rendering improved specificity and efficacy at lower concentrations could prove effective. Nanocarriers, such as liposomes, nanostructured lipids, polymers, and metal nanoparticles, have been tested for the delivery of plant products with enhanced effects. Recent advances have achieved improvement in the the stability, solubility, bioavailability, circulation time, and target specificity by nanostructure-mediated delivery of phytochemicals. Nanoparticles have been considered and attempted as a novel, targeted, and safe option. Newer approaches such as phyto-nanocarriers with carbohydrates, lignin, and polymers have been considered even more selective and effective modes of drug delivery in biomedical or diagnostic applications.