Recent advances in dendrimer-based nanoplatform for cancer treatment: A review

Out of the total deaths, 70% death occurs in middle and low-income countries due to cancer and according to world cancer report 2014, total annual economic cost of cancer in 2010 was approximately US$ 1.16 trillion therefore by reducing the cost with promising cancer treatment is needed to be develop in the near future. The present cancer treatment/therapy possesses relief but they also exert unwanted side effects on normal cells. The crucial step in cancer treatment is to carry anti-cancer drug efficiently at the targeted area without harming normal cells. Nowadays, Liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles and dendrimers are utilize as drug carriers, out of which dendrimers hold excellent properties as a drug carrier such as monodispersity, nanoscopic size, multiple functional groups at the periphery, tunable size, reproducibility and biocompatibility. Biocompatibility of dendrimers can be enhanced by the acetylation, PEGylation, glycosylation and amino acid functionalization that ensures the safety to normal cells. The anti-cancer drug can accommodate internal voids of the dendrimers or they can be functionalized at the surface of the dendrimers according to our requirements. For better selectivity of cancerous cells, targeting ligands can be attached at the surface of the dendrimers which helps in reorganization of cancer cells without harming normal cells. Therefore, this review highlights the synthetic routes of dendrimers and recent advancement in dendrimer carrier of anti-cancer drug (Doxorubicin, Cisplatin, Paclitaxel, Methotrexate), gold nanoparticles, Iron oxide nanoparticles. In addition, drug release mechanism of dendrimers is also discussed.