Abstract

PIONEERING IN CANCER THERAPY: CONVENTIONAL TO INNOVATION

*Kanishka Lakhmani and Suraj Choudhary

ABSTRACT

Cancer can be defined as an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells, better known as “Malignancy”. Traditional treatment approaches for cancer include combination of radiation, chemotherapy and surgery as well as less frequent combinations of hormone therapy and immunotherapy. The long term use of conventional drug delivery systems leads to fatal damage of the normal proliferative cells due to their lack of distinguishing ability between normal cells and tumor cells. The motive of target specificity and sustained release action of drug delivery systems lead to novel systems of drug delivery or NDDS. The various innovations in the cancer therapy for reduced toxicity and increased target specificity include nanoparticles, polymer based anti-cancer agents, gene therapy and many more. The key differences between conventional and novel therapies as well as the challenges faced in design of NDDS are the important factors to be considered. Owing to the advantages of novel drug delivery systems over conventional therapies has enabled it to be an emerging approach for cancer therapy in the global market.

Keywords: Conventional, cancer, novel drug delivery systems, nanoparticles, challenges, advantages, innovation.