The treatment of
cancer includes several conventional
therapies like surgery, radiation,
chemotherapy, etc. but mostly associated with limitations like off-targeted action,
fatigue and organ toxicity. The emergence of nanotechnology-enabled drug delivery systems shows revolutionary development to overcome the limitations of such
therapies. Magnetic nanocomposites are the new area of research that consists of nanoscale magnetic materials for triggering the release of active in response to an external magnetic field. For targeted
drug delivery and enhancing the biocompatibility, effective functionalization of magnetic nanocomposites is required. Therefore, several
biological molecules like
carbohydrate polymers,
proteins,
nucleic acids,
antibodies, etc. are used. This review article focuses on the insights of advances in the development of
carbohydrate-based magnetic nanocomposites for safe and effective
cancer treatment.
Carbohydrate-based magnetic nanocomposites offer significant advantages like greater stability, higher biocompatibility and lower toxicity with better physicochemical properties such as higher magnetic moments and anisotropy, larger heating properties, etc. Magnetic nanocomposites explore in almost all the areas of
cancer therapeutics for
drug delivery carrier, as
antineoplastic and MRI
contrast agents and in photothermal, photodynamic and in combinational
therapies for the development of safer nanocarriers. Such progressive trend of
carbohydrate-based magnetic nanocomposites will encourage the researchers for better site-specific delivery with higher safety profile in
cancer therapy.