The importance of reflecting on treatment and post-treatment care when assessing the social aspects of cosmetic nanomedicine and transdermal delivery system

Abstract

In the field of nanomedicine, the development of targeted drug delivery aims to design more effective delivery systems that directly target cancer cells and tumours. The development of transdermal delivery mechanisms is promising. At the same time, these areas of research raise profound social and ethical questions and are tied to significant transformations in the nature of contemporary healthcare and personal subjectivity. Socio- political consideration of these issues is shaped by a wider set of debates concerning the societal dimensions of nanotechnology. In this paper we report findings from an interdisciplinary research project uilising semi-structured interviews with key-informants engaged in cancer research and health-care. We identified narrative constracts that shaped participants' responses to and understandings of novel nanomedicines. This analysis contributes to a growing body of literature on the social and ethical aspects of nanotechnology and nanomedicine, providing evidence for the engagement of publics in the early stage of technological developments.