Abstract
The revolution of nanomedicine has emerged as an array of biological
products in the pharmaceutical field. Their peculiarity of nanosize has been a benefit
for the detection and prevention of diseases by application of engineered nanodevices
and nanostructures. This presents range of opportunities, that are suitable for most
drugs, prevents side effects, and enhances patient compliance. Nanomedicine has
fascinated medical research in developing different multifunctional nanostructures like
dendrimers, nanoparticles, micelles, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, etc. However,
there are still certain impedes to bringing out the best amongst these nanomedicines.
This chapter will spotlight the recent advances of multifunctional nanomedicine, solely
to combat cancer disease conditions, that can offer improvement in the
pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of the conventional approaches and
optimize the efficacy of the existing anticancer drugs. In recent years, combination
therapy has also shown good improvement in cancer therapy as compared to
monotherapy. The theranostic application can offer a good alternative to cancer
treatment. So, when the insights are combined with new nanotechnology-based
therapy, targeted drug delivery can be obtained to avoid the side effects, but the
concern of their toxicity should also be noted. Hence, nanomedicine represents one of
the advanced fields that combine nanotechnology and medicine for improved
efficiency and safety to human health, through the study of elucidation of cellular and
molecular mechanisms, to design performant nano-delivery as an efficient tool for the
treatment of cancer. Thus, the exploration of the properties needs to be understood to
execute the unmet needs and attain project cost benefits.