Carbon-based drug delivery carriers for cancer therapy

• Published in: Archives of pharmacal research Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 43 - 52
• Main Authors: Lim, Dong-Jin, Sim, Myeongbu, Oh, Leeseul, Lim, Kyunghee, Park, Hansoo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Carbon nanotube; Nanodiamonds; Graphene oxide; Drug delivery
• ISSN: 0253-6269

In the search to improve anticancer therapies, several drug carriers, including carbon-based nanomaterials have been studied. Both liposomes and polymeric microspheres have been used in anticancer drugs. However, there remains an on-going need for better therapeutic materials that have good drug solubility, an ability to reduce systemic toxicity through specific-tumor targeting, and rapid clearance. In this regard, carbon allotropes such as graphene oxide (GOs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and nanodiamonds (NDs), have been investigated, as they possess sufficient surface-to-volume ratio, thermal conductivity, rigid structural properties capable of post-chemical modification, and excellent biocompatibility. This review is aimed at exploring these carbon-based nanomaterials for use as multifaceted cancer drug carriers and is intended to demonstrate that GOs, CNTs, and NDs are likely to improve chemotherapeutical strategy for cancers in either a sole or combinational manner.