Development of next generation nanomedicine-based approaches for the treatment of cancer: we've barely scratched the surface

Interest in nanomedicines has grown rapidly over the past two decades, owing to thepromising therapeutic applications they may provide, particularly for the treatment ofcancer. Personalised medicine and'smart'actively targeted nanoparticles represent anopportunity to deliver therapies directly to cancer cells and provide sustained drugrelease, in turn providing overall lower off-target toxicity and increased therapeutic effi-cacy. However, the successful translation of nanomedicines from encouraging pre-clinicalfindings to the clinic has, to date, proven arduous. In this review, we will discuss the useof nanomedicines for the treatment of cancer, with a specific focus on the use of poly-meric and lipid nanoparticle delivery systems. In particular, we examine approachesexploring the surface functionalisation of nanomedicines to elicit active targeting andtherapeutic effects as well as challenges and future directions for nanoparticles in cancertreatment.