Skin Cancer and Its Treatment: Novel Treatment Approaches with Emphasis on Nanotechnology

Abstract

The life expectancy in the Western world is increasing for a long time, which is the courtesy of a higher life standard, a more thorough hygiene, and, of course, the progress of modern medicine. Nevertheless, one of the illnesses that still proves to be a great challenge regardless of the recent advancements in medicine is cancer. Skin cancer is, according to the World Health Organization, the most common malignancy for the white population. The beginning of the paper offers a brief overview of the latest available information concerning epidemiology, aetiology, diagnostics, and treatment options for skin cancer, whereas the rest of the article deals with modern approaches to skin cancer treatment, highlighting recent development of nanotechnology based treatment approaches. Among these, we focus especially on the newest nanotechnological approaches combined with chemotherapy, a field which specialises in target specificity, drug release control, and real time monitoring with the goal being to diminish unwanted side effects and their severity, achieving a cheaper treatment and a generally more efficient chemotherapy. The field of nanotechnology is a rapidly developing one, judging by already approved clinical studies or by new theranostic agents that combine both the therapeutic and diagnostic modalities.