Abstract
The efficacy of current standard chemotherapy is suboptimal due to the poor solubility and short half-lives of chemotherapeutic agents, as well as their high toxicity and lack of specificity which may result in severe side effects, noncompliance and patient inconvenience. The application of nanotechnology has revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry and attracted increasing attention as a significant means for optimizing the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents and enhancing their efficiency and safety profiles. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are lipid-based formulations that have been broadly studied as drug delivery systems. They have a solid matrix at room temperature and are considered superior to many other traditional lipid-based nanocarriers such as nanoemulsions, liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) due to their enhanced physical stability, improved drug loading capacity, and biocompatibility. This review focuses on the latest advances in the use of NLCs as drug delivery systems and their preparation and characterization techniques with special emphasis on their applications as delivery systems for chemotherapeutic agents and different strategies for their use in tumor targeting.
Highlights
The development of more effective delivery systems for currently available chemotherapeutic agents has recently been the focus of the pharmaceutical industry as high toxicity and/or low efficiency continue to be key obstacles in the management of many types of cancers
This review focuses on the latest advances in the use of Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) as drug delivery systems and their preparation and characterization techniques with special emphasis on their applications as delivery systems for chemotherapeutic agents and different strategies for their use in tumor targeting
Eshveelnl tahroouugnhd stphreaypadrrtyicilnegs iuspmoonredreycionngomanidc arnedduecffiescitehnet than other methods, when it comes to NLCs production, this process is not commonly used due to the www.mdpi.com/journal/pharmaceutics risk of particle aggregation, possible structural changes of the lipid core and surface surfactant films, and fractional particle degradation due to high temperature used in melting the lipids [51]
Summary
The development of more effective delivery systems for currently available chemotherapeutic agents has recently been the focus of the pharmaceutical industry as high toxicity and/or low efficiency continue to be key obstacles in the management of many types of cancers. The development of various types of nanoparticles (NPs) that range in size from 10 to 1000 nm improved the delivery of many drug molecules especially chemotherapeutic agents and provided alternative. Pharmaceutics 2020, 12, 2x8F8OR PEER REVIEW improved the delivery of many drug molecules especially chemotherapeutic agents and provided ainltneorvnaattiivvee sionlnuotivoantsivtoe osvoelurctoiomnes mtoanoyvoerfctohme cehamllaennygeosfasthsoecicahtaedllewnigthesthaesisroscaifaetteydanwditehffitchieeinrcysa[f3e,4ty]. FFuurrtthheerrmmoorree,, NNLLCCss wweerree aabbllee ttoo bbrrooaaddeenn tthhee ssppeeccttrruumm aanndd oovveerrccoommee mmaannyy ooff tthhee lliimmiittaattiioonnss aassssoocciiaatteedd wwiitthh ccoonnvveennttiioonnaall lliippiidd--bbaasseedd ccaarrrriieerrss. Pharmaceutics 2020, 12, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/pharmaceutics targeting strategies used to improve the efficiency of this drug delivery system. The review highlights the possible toxic effects of NLCs as well as potential means to improve their biocompatibility
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
