Skin cancer therapy: From conventional to nutraceutical based nanovesicular carriers

Abstract

Skin cancer has one of the highest incidences of any type of cancer with an increasing incidence rate worldwide. It is life threatening and has led to immense economic and human loss all over the world. The conventional treatment strategies have profound adverse effects, which necessitated the development of novel methods. Nutraceuticals are naturally occurring compounds, and they were reported to exhibit great efficacy in cancer treatment and prevention. Accordingly, topical delivery of nutraceuticals can be considered the most optimum approach for efficient and safe treatment of skin cancer. However, the utmost challenge to topical drug delivery is the impermeable nature of the skin which hinders drug penetration/permeation. Hence, the use of vesicular delivery systems for nutraceuticals has been a chief research area for years. In this review, we overview skin cancer with its pathogenesis, conventional treatment strategies and the nano-carrier based approaches for the delivery of nutraceuticals through the skin.

Keywords

• skin cancer
• nutraceuticals
• topical delivery
• vesicular delivery system
• conventional treatment
• novel methods