Bioactives and Nanocarriers: Merging Frontiers in Cancer Therapy

In 2020, cancer was accredited for 10 million deaths, responsible for nearly one in six deaths worldwide. Nanomedicine holds significant promise for revolutionizing diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. Conventional cancer therapies including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are chosen based on type, location, stage of cancer, and the patient's health. They typically aim to remove or control growth of cancerous cells. However, each of the therapies has its advantages, shortcomings, and side effects. To overcome this, the focus is shifting toward targeted therapy that uses bioactive molecules designed to exclusively attack cancer cells, sparing healthy ones. This approach involves engineering nanomaterials to create drug delivery systems with unique properties and functionalities. Delivering drugs via appropriate nanocarriers through surface modifications enable them to target the tumor cells. In this aspect, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, carbon dots under inorganic nanocarriers and liposomes, dendrimers, and others belonging to organic nanocarriers are being widely used to deliver bioactives in diagnosis and treatment of cancers. This bioactive in targeted drug delivery via nanoscale miniature formulation is gaining acclaim for its potential to revolutionize cancer treatment. This review highlighted the works of various nanocarriers used as delivery vehicles that encapsulate bioactive compounds for targeted delivery to cancer cells.