Chapter 5 - Targeted Drug Delivery

Abstract

Drug delivery in cancer, tumor, and other types of diseases are important for optimizing the effect of drugs while reducing toxic side effects. Several nanotechnologies, mostly based on nanomaterials (NMs), can facilitate drug delivery to tumors. Excellent candidates as nanocarriers must be small (less than 100 nm), nontoxic, biodegradable, biocompatible, does not aggregate, avoids the RES, and escapes opsonization, noninflammatory, with prolonged circulation time and cost effective. Many drugs in the market that are now available for human use are already nano enabled. The ability of these drugs to minimize the side effects that are normally observed in conventional drugs open up doors for applications of NMs as safer alternatives to drug delivery. Depending on their functionalization, biodegradable drug nanocarriers can take a number of paths within tissues. The pharmacokinetics and excretion routes of the various NMs used as drug delivery systems demand exhaustive research to clear the path for their human applications. The path that the nano-enabled drugs take after entry into the living system depends on many factors which are discussed in this chapter. The NM properties that allow its in vivo imaging maybe the most useful property for elucidating the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination and PK in nanodrug delivery systems. Further investigations on the properties of NMs that will allow in vivo imaging and other modes of detection are important as the NMs enter the realm of human consumption.