Recent advances in nano delivery systems for blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration and targeting of brain tumors

•BBB poses as a challenge for successful therapy of brain pathologies.•Delivery across BBB warrants new alternative methodologies for better therapy outcomes.•Nanoparticles portend to play leading role in targeted delivery of therapeutics to the brain. Gliomas constitute about 80% of brain tumors and have a meager two-year survival rate. The treatment options available are very few because of poor prognosis and a lack of targeted nanodelivery systems that can cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-tumor barrier. This short review attempts to clarify the challenges for delivery systems designed to cross the BBB, and provides a brief description of the different types of targeted nanodelivery system that have shown potential for success in delivering drugs to the brain. Further, this review describes the most recent studies that have developed nanoparticles for brain delivery in the past five years. We also provide an insight into the most recent clinical trials designed to assess the efficacy of these nanodelivery systems for glioma.