Nanoemulsion Based Targeting in Cancer Therapeutics

A major hurdle in cancer diagnosis and therapy is the targeted and efficacious delivery of agents to the tumor site, while avoiding adverse damage resulting from systemic administration. While systemic drug delivery already hinges largely on physicochemical properties of the drug, such as size, diffusivity, and plasma protein binding affinity, tumors possess a dense, heterogeneous vasculature and an outward net convective flow that act as hurdles to efficient drug deposition at the target site. Nanocarrier mediated delivery has emerged as a successful strategy to enhance delivery of therapeutics and imaging agents to tumors, thereby increasing the potential for diagnosis at an earlier stage or for therapeutic success (or both).