Nanoparticles and Cancer Chemotherapy

Globally, cancer is one of the major causes of death. Cancer metastasis is the primary cause of death for most cancer patients. In national clinical practice guidelines, systemic chemotherapy is recommended as the first-line treatment for patients with metastatic cancer. Notably, nanoformulations of chemotherapeutic agents are gradually replacing conventional chemotherapeutic agents in clinical practice. However, the current superiority of nanomedicines largely depends on the strength of the EPR effect in cancer patients. According to clinical statistics, many nanomedicine candidates fail in phase 3 clinical trials because their efficacy is not significantly different from that of the control group, often due to tumour heterogeneity. This chapter proposes several feasible strategies to enhance the effectiveness of nanomedicines in cancer patients with or without the EPR effect. For example, by using the natural tropism of different nanomaterials to control drug distribution and the technique of sonoporation to create pores on the wall of the tumour vasculature. It is hoped that these insights will provide researchers with the inspiration to develop more effective medicines.