The Mechanism of Nano-drug Delivery

Most conventional drugs accumulate in non-target areas in the body of patients and are responsible for adverse side effects due to poor solubility and poor selectivity after injection, with only a tiny portion of drugs reaching their targets (cells or tissues). Drug delivery is believed to overcome this challenge by allowing control over drug distribution, metabolism, and excretion, which also improves drug safety and efficacy. Nano-drugs (nanoscale particles and vehicles) have attracted great interest because of the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect for tumors. In this review, we summarized the types of nano-drug carriers, described the advantages and adverse effects of the carriers, and discussed the mechanism of single nano-drug transport in living cells. Better understanding the nano-drug delivery mechanism is necessary to ensure the potential chemotherapy of nano-drugs.