Emerging Polymer-Based Nanomaterials for Cancer Therapeutics

Cancer is a highly complex disease and a global health challenge with tumour heterogeneity and therapy resistance posing major hurdles in its successful treatment. Nanomaterials have revolutionized the current delivery of cancer therapy and diagnosis. To overcome the drawbacks of conventional cancer treatment, it is necessary to smartly design and tailor-make nanomaterials which precisely recognize and deliver the drug payload at the targeted site of tumour. Polymer-based nanomaterials exhibit unique physicochemical properties which make them potential carriers for cancer therapy. The functional groups present naturally or produced synthetically on the surface of polymers facilitate the conjugation or the encapsulation of incompatible antitumour drugs enabling site-directed delivery. In recent years, different types of polymer-based nanomaterials like polymeric micelles, polymer-drug conjugates, polyplexes, polymersomes, etc. have been investigated as nanocarriers for drug delivery. These nanomaterials have shown remarkable results in clinical studies such as chemotherapeutic efficiency, efficacy and reduction in side effects. Moreover, different strategies can be implemented to release the drug payload from the encapsulated nanomaterial to the targeted site using internal or external stimuli or through antibody, aptamer, enzyme or receptor polymer conjugation.