Effect of surface ligand modification on the properties of anti-tumor nanocarrier

With the continuous increasing number of cancer patients worldwide, there has been great interest in developing the targeted delivery anti-cancer drugs. The drug concentration reaching the tumor site is not enough to achieve a good therapeutic effect if it relies only on passive targeted drug delivery. In a long-lasting effort to improve the anti-cancer effect of drugs, surface ligand modification to nanocarriers has been actively explored to greatly improve the targeting ability, induce apoptosis in tumor cells, and prolong the drug circulation time in blood. This present review provides an overview of the effects of surface ligand modifications on the properties of anti-tumor nanocarriers. The first part presents the targeting mechanisms of nanocarriers. The second part focuses on recent progress in types of surface modification ligands exploited for anti-tumor nanocarriers. And the third part encompasses the effect of surface modifications on the properties of nanocarriers. In addition, the perspective in this field is also discussed. [Display omitted] •We present the targeting mechanism of nanocarriers.•We describe the types of nanocarrier surface modifications.•We summarise the effect of surface modifications on the properties of nanocarriers.