Advanced Nanocarriers for Cancer Therapy: Design Strategies, Theragnostic Approaches, Preclinical Development and Clinical Translation

Cancer remains a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, and conventional therapeutic strategies are often limited by poor tumor selectivity, systemic toxicity, and inadequate therapeutic monitoring. Nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems have emerged as powerful platforms to address these challenges by enabling controlled drug release, improved pharmacokinetics, and enhanced accumulation of therapeutic agents at tumor sites. A wide range of nanocarrier platforms—including polymeric nanoparticles, lipid-based systems, inorganic nanoparticles, and carbon-based nanomaterials such as carbon dots—have been developed to optimize therapeutic efficacy and safety. Advances in pharmaceutical design and materials engineering have further expanded nanocarrier functionality, allowing integration of targeting ligands, stimuli-responsive components, and imaging agents. In parallel, hybrid nanomaterials based on biocompatible matrices such as chitosan, alginate, and zinc oxide offer tailored physicochemical properties, while biopolymer–drug conjugates, including hyaluronic acid–based systems, provide enhanced selectivity and biocompatibility. These innovations have accelerated theragnostic and image-guided therapeutic strategies, alongside robust preclinical evaluation and growing clinical translation. Collectively, these developments position advanced nanocarriers at the forefront of next-generation cancer therapy, bridging pharmaceutical research, biomaterials innovation, and precision clinical applications.Although nanocarrier-based strategies have demonstrated remarkable potential in cancer therapy, significant challenges remain in translating these systems from laboratory concepts to clinically effective medicines. Key barriers include pharmaceutical formulation complexities such as reproducible synthesis, drug loading efficiency, stability during storage and circulation, scalable manufacturing, and batch-to-batch consistency. In parallel, understanding nano–bio interactions, biodistribution, and long-term safety remains critical for regulatory and clinical acceptance. Recent innovations in biomaterials engineering, including polymeric, lipid-based, inorganic, and hybrid nanomaterials, as well as biopolymer–drug conjugates and stimuli-responsive platforms, have enabled precise control over physicochemical properties, targeting capability, and therapeutic performance. These advances offer new opportunities to design multifunctional nanocarriers that integrate therapy and diagnostic functions while maintaining biocompatibility and translational feasibility. This Research Topic aims to address current formulation and materials-driven challenges by bringing together interdisciplinary research on pharmaceutical design, biomaterials innovation, preclinical evaluation, and clinical translation. Ultimately, the goal is to accelerate the development of robust, safe, and effective nanocarrier technologies for next-generation cancer therapy.This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive platform that highlights recent advances in nanocarrier-based systems for cancer therapy, with an emphasis on innovative design strategies, pharmaceutical formulation, and translational development. The topic seeks to bring together interdisciplinary research spanning pharmaceutical sciences, biomaterials engineering, oncology, and medical imaging to address current challenges in effective cancer treatment. Contributions focusing on multifunctional nanocarriers integrating therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities, targeted and stimuli-responsive delivery systems, and next-generation formulation technologies are particularly encouraged. In addition, studies addressing preclinical evaluation, pharmacokinetics, safety assessment, regulatory considerations, and early-phase clinical translation of nanocarrier platforms are welcome. By showcasing cutting-edge research and critical reviews, this Research Topic aims to promote knowledge exchange and foster the development of clinically relevant nanocarrier technologies that improve therapeutic outcomes and enable precision cancer care. Topic editors: Syed Mahmood, Abdul Ahad, Mohit Kumar Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77947/advanced-nanocarriers-for-cancer-therapy-design-strategies-theragnostic-approaches-preclinical-development-and-clinical-translation