N Rathna Prasanna, C Triveni, R Soumya, BV Ramana and G Nagarajan
The development of drug delivery systems for cancer therapeutics has improved the therapeutic efficacy of existing chemotherapies and also resulted in the creation of new ones. A variety of these technologies are already in clinical use, including controlled delivery systems for cancer drugs, localized chemotherapy systems, polymer-drug conjugates, liposomal systems, and trans dermal drug delivery patches. The possibility of targeting the delivery of cancer drugs to tumor tissues may be realized by using specific polymer-drug conjugates or by manipulating the physicochemical properties of polymers or liposomal systems to match the tumor environment. A controlled release microchip has been developed that can dispense one or more drugs as needed and represents the next generation of ��?smart��? drug delivery approaches. Drug-delivery systems have had a growing influence on the clinical application of cancer therapeutics for several decades, and novel delivery systems now have been used by millions of patients.