Chapter 8 - Carbon nanotubes: versatile nanocarriers for effective delivery of anticancer drugs

Abstract

The term “cancer” refers to a set of diseases mainly characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of cells. There are more than 200 types of cancer and they are classified on the basis of tissue types, as tissue is where the uncontrolled cell division originates. Most patients who suffer from cancer do not die from the primary tumor effects, but because of the metastases of the primary tumor and its subsequent systemic effects. Cancer therapy is basically aimed at preventing metastases as early as possible and to prolong the quality of life of the patient. There are currently various therapeutic options in clinical practice, and recent progress in nanotechnology provides ample reason for its use in cancer therapy. Nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes (CNTs), dendrimers, liposomes, and quantum dots possess special characteristics that render them efficient for drug delivery, thermal ablation, and diagnostic purposes in oncology. CNTs are tubular systems having axial symmetry and diameters in the nanometer size range, imparting them unique characteristics that render them good candidates to be exploited for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer. Moreover, they have the ability to deliver the loaded drug contents directly to desired tissues and cells. In this chapter, various nanotechnology-based cancer therapeutics are elucidated with special focus on CNTs. Their methods of functionalization and drug-loading, targeting, and delivery applications for various types of cancer are described in detail.