Nanoparticulate delivery systems for liver targeting

Abstract

The field of targeted drug delivery systems is emerging due to the crucial need of selective transport of drugs to the tissue or organ of concern to improve the efficacy and reduce side effects. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer that predominates in patients with underlying chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis. The concept of targeting drugs to the liver can be a suitable approach to overcome the associated problems of conventional systemic chemotherapy. This requires the combination of three components: the carrier, the targeting moiety and the therapeutic agent.