Background: Malignant brain tumor is a highly challenging disease for diagnosis, treatment, and management. Cytotoxicity, distribution and the ability to cross blood brain barrier are some of the most significant issues for the chemotherapy of brain tumors. Nanotechnology has been widely exploited in drug delivery with great potential in improving the drug efficiency and efficacy. The advent of nanotechnology would greatly facilitate the early detection and treatment of brain tumors. This review will be primarily focused on current nano drug delivery system for brain cancer therapy. Meanwhile, the existing impediments for therapeutic nanomedicines and critical analysis of the different delivery nanoparticles are also discussed.
Methods: We systematically evaluated the major factors that impact the current nanomedicines for brain tumor therapy. Meanwhile, various nanoparticle-based formulations for brain cancer detection and therapy are evaluated.
Results: 124 papers were included in this review. From the analysis of the nanomaterials, seven major nanomaterials have been discussed regarding the functionality and current therapeutic significance. The review also explains in detail about the different types of nanomaterials and their functionalities. This shows that each of these nanomaterials has specialized functions for the treatment of various kinds of brain cancer.
Conclusion: Nanomaterials provide a viable potential diagnosis mechanis. In the future, more research needs to be focused on developing a better diagnosis tool for detection of cancer on an urgent basis. Blood-brain barrier and cytotoxicity are some of the primary root causes for the impediment of treatment of cancer using nanoparticles. Therefore, different delivery systems should be exploited for the nanoparticles to surmount these issues.