International Journal of Drug Delivery 2 (2010) 192-199 http://www.arjournals.org/ijdd.html Review Solid lipid nanoparticles in cancer therapy Vineet Mathur* 1 , Yamini Satrawala 2 , Mithun Singh Rajput 3 , Piyush Kumar 1 , Pankaj Shrivastava 1 , Akhilesh Vishvkarma 1 *Corresponding author: Vineet Mathur 1 Niper, ITI Compound, Shri Bhawani Paper Mill Road, Rae Bareli- 229010, India. 2 Department of Pharmacy, Shri G.S. Institute of Technology and Science 23- Park Road, Indore- 452003, India. 3 College of Pharmacy, IPS Academy, Rajendra Nagar, A.B. Road, Indore- 452012, India Tel: 09580210512 E-mail: vineet.mathur6@gmail.com Abstract The use of solid lipid nanoparticles in medicine and more specifically drug delivery is set to spread rapidly. Currently many substances are under investigation for drug delivery and more specifically for cancer therapy technology is the latest trend in the cancer therapy. It helps the pharmacist to formulate the product with maximum therapeutic value and minimum or negligible range side effects. Cancer is a class of disorders characterized by abnormal growth of cells that proliferate in an uncontrolled way and a major disadvantage of anticancer drugs is their lack of selectivity for tumor tissue, which causes severe side effects and results in low cure rates. Thus, it is very hard to target the abnormal cells by the conventional method of the drug delivery system. In harmony with these approaches, this review’s basic approach is that the defining features of solid lipid nanoparticles are embedded in their breakthrough potential for patient care. This review article describes the possible way to exploit solid lipid nanoparticle technology to targeted drug therapy in cancer. We looked at the usefulness of solid lipid nanoparticles as a tool for cancer therapy. Keywords: Cancer therapy, Solid lipid nanoparticles, Quantum dots Introduction Solid lipid nanoparticles are also referred to as “zero- dimensional” nanomaterials. This definition arises from the fact that all of their dimensions are in the nanoscale (under 100 nm), as opposed to one-dimensional nanomaterials, which have one dimension larger than the nanoscale (such as nanowires and nanotubes), and two-dimensional nanomaterials, which have two dimensions larger than the nanoscale (such as self- assembled monolayer films). Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) are colloidal drug carrier systems [1-3]. General ingredients include solid lipid, emulsifier and water. The term lipid is used generally in a very broad sense and includes triglycerides, partial glycerides, PEGylated lipids, fatty acids steroids and waxes. All classes of emulsifiers have been used to stabilize the lipid dispersion, emulsifiers such as poloxamer, polysorbates, lecithin and bile acids. They are very much like nanoemulsions, differing in lipid nature. The liquid lipid used in emulsions is replaced by a lipid solid at room temperature in SLN including high- melting point glycerides or waxes [2, 4-5]. Indeed, nanoparticles were initially thought to be designed as carriers for vaccines and anticancer drugs when they were first developed in about 1970. Several innovative research articles on solid lipid nanotechnology for drug delivery are available in the literature which describes extensive preparation techniques, characterization and types of SLN, investigation of their structural properties, factors affecting their formation and storage stability, drug loading principles and drug release ISSN: 0975-0215 doi:10.5138/ijdd.2010.0975.0215.02029 ©arjournals.org, All rights reserved.