ABSTRACT
In recent years, studies on the design and synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs)
of biodegradable polymers that are suitable for biomedical applications have
attracted great interest. Drug-loaded NPs have considerable potential to provide
an ideal solution for the major problems encountered in chemotherapy. The
advantages of NP-based drug-delivery systems include sustained drug release,
reduced systemic side effects and high capability to cross various physiological
drug barriers [1-3]. However, efficient chemotherapy is often obstructed since
the therapeutic agents possess high toxicity to the healthy cells and low or
no selectivity to the cancer cells with pharmacokinetics beyond control. NP
formulation can provide a controlled manner for drug release from the NPs.
Targeted drug delivery can also be realized by functionalization of the drug-
loaded NPs by molecular probes which have specific target recognition to the
diseased cells.
