ABSTRACT
Ability to manipulate the biological and physicochemical properties of nanomaterial allows for more efficient drug targeting and delivery, resulting in greater potency and specificity, and decreased adverse side effects. A rational characterization strategy for biomedical nanoparticles contains three essential components: physicochemical characterization, in vitro assays, and in vivo studies. Through exquisitely targeted and multifunctional approaches, nanotechnology in particular holds great promise for enhancing cancer therapy. The biologic activity and toxicity of nanoscale particles are dependent on many parameters not typically examined for conventional small molecule therapeutics: size, shape, surface chemistry, stability of outer coating, agglomeration state, etc., and many conventional properties must be analyzed using a very different set of protocols and/or instrumentation. Specifically in cancer applications, size is an important factor in the accumulation of therapeutic nanomaterials in tumors, usually as a result of enhanced permeation and retention, caused by local defects in the vasculature and poor lymphatic drainage.
