Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part G (2025)

Background: Ovarian cancer remains one of the deadliest gynecologic malignancies due to late diagnosis, high metastatic potential, chemoresistance, and poor overall survival. Conventional chemotherapy is limited by inadequate tumor penetration, multidrug resistance, and systemic toxicity. Nanotechnology-driven drug delivery systems (DDS) have emerged as versatile platforms to overcome these challenges.

Objective: This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in nanocarrier design for ovarian cancer therapy, emphasizing passive and active targeting, stimuli-responsive release, immunomodulation, theranostics, and translational considerations.

Methods/Content: We discuss the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, limitations of passive nanocarriers, and clinical outcomes. Active targeting strategies leveraging overexpressed receptors (e.g., folate receptor-α, HER2, mesothelin) and ligand-functionalized nanoparticles are highlighted. Stimuli-responsive nanocarriers responsive to pH, redox potential, enzymes, light, thermal, magnetic, or ultrasound cues are reviewed, including combination therapies. Immunotherapy delivery platforms, tumor microenvironment-penetrating designs, and approaches to bypass multidrug resistance are examined. Theranostic nanoplatforms integrating imaging modalities (MRI, CT, PET, fluorescence) for real-time monitoring and personalized therapy are discussed. Safety, pharmacokinetics, regulatory challenges, and translational hurdles are evaluated. Finally, future directions including AI/ML-guided nanocarrier design, personalized nanomedicine, immune-evading strategies, and CRISPR-integrated platforms are outlined.

Conclusion: Nanotechnology-based DDS provide a multifaceted approach to overcome ovarian cancer treatment barriers, improve therapeutic efficacy, and enable precision medicine. Continued innovation, coupled with rigorous preclinical and clinical validation, has the potential to transform ovarian cancer management.