Topical Transdermal Chemoprevention of Breast Cancer: Where Will Nanomedical Approaches Deliver Us?

Abstract

Despite the high incidence of breast cancer, there are few pharmacological prevention strategiesforthe high-risk population and those that are available have low adherence. Strategies that deliver drugs directly to the breasts may increase drug local concentrations, improving efficacy, safety and acceptance. The skin of the breast has been proposed as an administration route for localtransdermal therapy, which may improve drug levels in the mammary tissue, due to both deep local penetration and percutaneous absorption. In this review, we discuss the application of nanotechnology-based strategies for the delivery of wellestablished and new agents as well as drug repurposing using the topicaltransdermal route to improve the outcomes of preventive therapy for breast cancer.