Mechanisms for Targeted Delivery of Nanoparticles in Cancer

With the evolution of the “omics” era, our molecular understanding of cancer has exponentially increased, leading to the development of the concept of personalized medicine. Nanoparticle technology has emerged as a way to combine cancer specific targeting with multifunctionality, such as imaging and therapy, leading to advantages over conventional small molecule based approaches. In this review, we discuss the targeting mechanisms of nanoparticles, which can be passive or active. The latter utilizes small molecules, aptamers, peptides, and antibodies as targeting moieties incorporated into the nanoparticle surface to deliver personalized therapy to patients.