New era of nanoparticles facilitated co-delivery in cancer therapy: two heads are better than one

Combinational chemotherapeutics gained attention in 1950s, when a sharp reduction in mortality of cancer patients was observed with simultaneous usage of selected anticancer drugs with diverse mechanisms of action. However, later toxicity concerns slowed their wider adoption. Hitches, like multidrug resistance further account for the inactivity of many of the anticancer drugs for numerous cancers, rang another alarm. In such situations, the treatment itself becomes a matter of concern for patients and clinicians. Nanotechnology emerged as a refuge to counter the threat of resistance and toxicities apprehension and at the same time elevates the efficacy as compared to non-nanotherapy counterparts. Subsequently, breakthroughs in biotherapeutics, theranostics, and targeting ligands changed the paradigm of nanoparticulate combinational therapy. Careful selection of drug cocktail into the single architecture of nanoparticles helps to co-deliver the drugs of different natures, to the same target simultaneously without any haywire distribution menace. With the everlasting necessity for nanotherapeutic co-delivery in cancer, it is of utmost importance to understand how far we have reached and why we are still lagging on the clinical front. The present review aims to bring updated information in the area of nanoparticle-based co-delivered therapeutics. Additionally, current progress and challenges have been reviewed in depth to present a holistic overview. Graphical Abstract