Nano drug systems have been employed to improve the efficacy, safety, physicochemical properties, and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics profile of pharmaceutical substances. In particular, functionalized Nano drug systems can offer enhanced bioavailability of orally taken drugs, prolonged half-life of injected drugs (by reducing immunogenicity), and targeted delivery to specific tissues. Thus, Nano drug systems might lower the frequency of administration while providing maximized pharmacological effects and minimized systemic side effects, possibly leading to better therapeutic compliance and clinical outcomes. In spite of these attractive pharmacokinetic advantages, recent attention has been drawn to the toxic potential of Nano drugs since they often exhibit in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, inflammation, and genotoxicity.

Recently, considerable attention has been directed toward nanoscience, and a number of efforts have been made for the development and commercial applications of new nanotechnology in both academic and industrial institutions. Capable of generating plasmonic and other effects, gold nanostructures can offer a variety of diagnostic and therapy functionalities for biomedical applications, but conventional chemically-synthesized Au nanomaterials cannot always match stringent requirements for toxicity levels and surface conditioning. Laser-synthesized Au nanoparticles (AuNP) present a viable alternative to chemical counterparts and can offer exceptional purity (no trace of contaminants) and unusual surface chemistry making possible direct conjugation with biocompatible polymers (dextran, polyethylene glycol).

Cancer despite the introduction of new targeted therapy remains for many patients a fatal disease. Nanotechnology in cancer medicine has emerged as a promising approach to defeat cancer. Targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs by different Nano systems promises enhanced drug efficacy, selectivity, and better safety profile and reduced systemic toxicity. The advent of pharmaceutical nanotechnology has allowed an arsenal of drugs with poor stability, low solubility, high off-target toxicity and other disadvantageous features, to be accessible as pharmaceutical products that could be administered to a patient. Nanotechnology was introduced in drug delivery very long ago, but has flourished with unprecedented intensity during the last twenty years and now a diversity of nano-based preparations are at clinical stage of development or already available in the market. Undoubtedly, nanotechnology plays a key role in future pharmaceutical development and pharmacotherapy. Nanomaterials are increasingly used as drug carriers for cancer therapy. Nanomaterials also appeal to researchers in the areas of cancer diagnosis and biomarker discovery. Several antitumor nanodrugs are currently being tested in preclinical and clinical trials and show promise in therapeutic and other settings. Especially, nanotechnology offers a promise for the targeted delivery of drugs, genes, and proteins to tumour tissues and therefore alleviating the toxicity of anticancer agents in healthy tissues. Multidrug resistance (MDR), which significantly decreases the efficacy of anticancer drugs and causes tumour recurrence, has been a major challenge in clinical cancer treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs for decades. Several mechanisms of overcoming drug resistance have been postulated. Well known P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and other drug efflux transporters are considered to be critical in pumping anticancer drugs out of cells and causing chemotherapy failure. Innovative theranostic (therapeutic and diagnostic) strategies with nanoparticles are rapidly evolving and are anticipated to offer opportunities to overcome these limits.

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