Abstract

Throughout the world, cancer is one of the main causes of mortality, threatening the public health in many countries. As a result, cancer therapy researchers are paying increasing attention to biocompatible targeted drug delivery systems. Nanocarriers and co-delivery of active drugs is emerging as an essential research field for improving therapeutic efficiency. Although nutraceuticals are now being used to prevent and treat chronic ill-nesses such as cancers, some have shown limitations concerning solubility, bioavailability, and biodegradability. This review explores different types of nanostructures that can be used as drug delivery systems for curcumin, a biologically active polyphenol with high anticancer potential. However, poor solubility, short biological half-life and high metabolism rate limit its efficiency for cancer treatment. Different approaches recently developed to solve these issues are described herein, including the use of lipid-based nanoparticles (NPs), polymeric NPs, carbon-based nanostructures, and inorganic NPs. Besides, the characteristics, advantages and drawbacks of different curcumin nanocarriers are discussed. Furthermore, co-delivery systems involving curcumin and other anticancer drugs are reviewed, which are excellent future prospects for cancer therapy.