Systematic Review of Hybrid Nanosystems as Emerging Tools in Targeted Cancer Therapy and Future Aspects
Swati Paliwal, Arzoo Pannu, Vivek Yadav, Saroj Verma, Uma Agarwal, Rajiv Kumar TonkIntroduction:
Hybrid Nanosystems (HNSs) are a type of advanced drug carrier that can be made from various materials, including organic compounds, inorganic particles, lipids, polymers, and biomimetic components. This combined framework facilitates functionalities such as medication distribution, imaging support, and modification of therapeutic responses. This renders them highly promising for oncological therapy. The main goal of this study was to identify studies on HNSs that investigated their development, underlying characteristics, and therapeutic efficacy
Methods:
A comprehensive review of the literature was performed, utilizing platforms such as Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. It systematically collected data on various aspects, including cancer types studied, nanomaterial compositions, targeting techniques, combination therapies, safety profiles, and therapeutic significance. The analysis encompassed findings from 197 preclinical and clinical studies published between 2010 and 2025. This study highlights recent advancements in cancer treatment methods, their mechanisms of action, and the critical challenges that must be addressed prior to clinical application.
Results:
The findings indicate that HNSs are under investigation for several cancer types, including breast, lung, liver, colon, and brain tumors. These technologies facilitate targeted drug delivery, initiate programmed cell death (apoptosis), inhibit cancer proliferation, and assist in real-time imaging for diagnostic applications. An analysis of 197 research papers published from 2010 to 2025 revealed that HNSs markedly improve anticancer efficacy by optimizing drug transport, tumor targeting, and multimodal therapy strategies. HNS-based systems attained tumor suppression rates of 70-90%, enhanced apoptosis, diminished systemic toxicity, and successfully addressed multidrug resistance and immune evasion. Multifunctional platforms that integrate chemotherapy, phototherapy, gene therapy, and immunotherapy have shown significant synergistic effects, with combination indices between 0.4 and 0.8. Despite the highly encouraging preclinical results, additional studies are necessary to evaluate long-term safety, scalability, and regulatory obstacles for effective clinical translation.
Discussion:
The results highlight the growing promise of hybrid nanostructures as sophisticated cancer therapies that can combine targeted delivery, multimodal treatment, and diagnostic capabilities on a single platform. Their capacity to overcome significant drawbacks of traditional medicines, such as multidrug resistance, inadequate bioavailability, and off-target toxicity, highlights their translational significance. Nonetheless, additional endeavours are necessary to ensure long-term safety, manufacturing uniformity, and regulatory structures to enable effective clinical implementation.
Conclusion:
Hybrid nanostructures have emerged as promising multifunctional platforms for cancer therapy, exhibiting increased tumour targeting, improved therapeutic efficacy, and diminished systemic toxicity across many cancer types. Their capacity to amalgamate drug administration, imaging, and combination therapies provides considerable benefits compared to traditional treatments. Nonetheless, thorough long-term safety investigations, scalable production methodologies, and defined regulatory frameworks are crucial to expedite their effective clinical translation.