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Cancer has been one of the most dominant causes of mortality globally over the last few decades. In cancer treatment, the selective targeting of tumor cells is indispensable, making it a better replacement for conventional chemotherapies by diminishing their adverse side effects. While designing a drug to be delivered selectively in the target organ, the drug development scientists should focus on various factors such as the type of cancer they are dealing with according to which drug, targeting moieties, and pharmaceutical carriers should be targeted. All published articles have been collected regarding cancer and drug-targeting approaches from well reputed databases including MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CENTRAL and ClinicalTrials.gov, Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Wiley, and Springer. The articles published between January 2010 and December 2020 were considered. Due to the existence of various mechanisms, it is challenging to choose which one is appropriate for a specific case. Moreover, a combination of more than one approach is often utilized to achieve optimal drug effects. In this review, we have summarized and highlighted central mechanisms of how the targeted drug delivery system works in the specific diseased microenvironment, along with the strategies to make an approach more effective. We have also included some pictorial illustrations to have a precise idea about different types of drug targeting. The core contribution of this work includes providing a cancer drug development scientist with a broad preliminary idea to choose the appropriate approach among the various targeted drug delivery mechanisms. Also, the study will contribute to improving anticancer treatment approaches by providing a pathway for lesser side effects observed in conventional chemotherapeutic techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most notable health dilemmas. Analyzing plants for new antidiabetic remedies has become an impressive territory for life science researchers. Gynura procumbens has long been used to treat diabetes. Thus, we strived to ascertain the hypoglycemic potentiality of extract of leaves of G. procumbens by in vivo and in silico approaches. Methods. Fresh leaves of G. procumbens were collected and shade-dried to prepare ethanolic extracts to evaluate pharmacological parameters. Diabetes was induced in rats via injecting alloxan through the intraperitoneal route at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight. Humalyzer 3000 was used to perform a biochemical assay of collected samples from rats. Anti-hyperglycemic activity study along with overdose toxicity test was performed. The pharmacological activity of this plant was also evaluated through a molecular docking study. This in silico study investigated the binding affinity of natural ligands from G. procumbens against glycoside hydrolase enzymes. Results. We detected a peak plasma concentration of G. procumbens at 3 hours 45 minutes that is roughly similar to the peak plasma concentration of metformin. Again, in OGTT and anti-hyperglycemic tests, it has been ascertained that both plant extract and metformin can exert significant P < 0.05 and highly significant P < 0.01 hypoglycemic activity in a dose-dependent manner. Metformin exhibited better therapeutic efficacy than that of plant extract, but it possessed null statistical significance. Also, our safety profile expressed that, similar to metformin, the plant extract can restore the disturbed pathological state in a dose-oriented approach with a wide safety margin. In silico study also validated the potentialities of natural constituents of G. procumbens. Conclusion. This study suggested that G. procumbens can be considered as potential antidiabetic plant. Robust and meticulous investigation regarding plant chemistry and pharmacology in the future may bring about a new dimension that will aid in discovering antidiabetic drugs from this plant in the diabetes management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]