Chapter 7: Importance of nanoparticles in breast cancer therapy

Despite significant advancements in the field of breast cancer therapy (such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy), still, several women fail while having these treatments and die. To overcome certain side effects, nanoparticles (NPs) proved to be a powerful tool as drug delivery vehicles. The major factors that contribute to achieving this target include small size, more drug accumulation, non-toxicity, efficiency, bioavailability, and studies such as optimum pH, temperature, drug release profile, cytotoxicity tests, etc. The arena of nanotechnology has allowed countless researchers to address the role of NPs in the delivery of numerous drugs into breast cancer cells. The NPs synthesized by any of the methods can be tuned to various sizes and shapes. They can also be modified with chemical reagents to contain certain functional groups followed by linkage to drugs via covalent or non-covalent interactions. The present chapter is focused on types of NPs – properties and challenges which are in use for breast cancer therapy. The reported studies clearly indicate that NPs have prospective importance in the controlled release of drugs and refining the lifespan of patients.