Carbon Nanotubes in the Treatment of Skin Cancers: Safety and Toxic ological Aspects

Background: Skin cancer is depicted to be the most common malignant disease across the globe that is frequently diagnosed in people bearing light skin. Three common forms of skin cancers are squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma. Treatment of skin cancers comprises of various forms of management strategies that can help in curing the disease including the use of several therapeutic agents. Though numerous therapies have been explored till date to deliver the active therapeutics, nanoparticulate based targeted therapy has garnered considerable interest and is a promising approach in treating skin cancers. Objective: The present review aims to explore a novel nano-sized carrier, carbon nanotubes for the delivery of various actives researched for skin cancer treatment. The write up traces the pre-clinical and clinical reports on carbon nanotubes. The feasibility of the nanoparticulate system has been elaborated inclusive of the safety and toxicological aspects of the carrier system. Conclusion: From the reviewed literature it can be concluded that carbon nanotubes are the emerging treatment modality in skin cancers as they offer targeted delivery to the cancerous cells, act selectively and provide better penetration in the neoplastic cells due to improved permeability and retention effect.