Doxorubicin: nanotechnological overviews from bench to bedside

Abstract

Doxorubicin (DOX) is considered one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents, used as a first-line drug in numerous types of cancer. Nevertheless, it exhibits serious adverse effects, such as lethal cardiotoxicity and dose-limiting myelosuppression. In this review, we focus on the description and the clinical benefits of different DOX-loaded nanotechnological platforms, not only those commercially available but also the ones that are currently in clinical phases, such as liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, polymer–drug conjugates, polymeric micelles and ligand-based DOX-loaded nanoformulations. Although some DOX-based nanoproducts are currently being used in the clinical field, it is clear that further research is necessary to achieve improvements in cancer therapeutics.