Cutting-edge Advances in Nanocarrier-Facilitated Topical Drug Delivery Systems for Targeted Skin Cancer Therapy: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Abstract: Skin cancer is one of the most common and complex types of the disease, resulting in a high mortality rate worldwide. Skin cancer can be treated with chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, etc. In most cases, a patient's condition and the type of skin cancer determine the recommended treatment options. As a result of poor penetration of the drug into stratum corneum or lesions, low efficacy, and higher concentrations of active pharmaceutical ingredients required to achieve a therapeutic effect, the efficacy of skin cancer therapy has been limited. The high dose requirement, as well as poor bioavailability at the site of action, causes skin inflammation, which greatly hinders drug absorption. This review mainly focuses on research on nanocarriers for sitespecific and controlled delivery of therapeutics for skin cancer treatment. The information related to various nanocarriers systems for skin cancer will be illustrated. This also focused on patents, clinical trials, and research carried out in the field of liposomes, niosomes, ethosomes, nanoparticles, microemulsion, nanoemulsions, gels, nanogels, hydrogels, dendrimers, and nanofibers for treating skin cancer. Nanotechnology-based therapy has shown great promise in controlling skin cancer and can be used to deliver drugs more effectively.