Abstract / Summary
Systemic toxicity and the development of drug resistance limit conventional chemotherapy, and breast cancer remains a major global health problem. As the materials community pushes towards precision engineering at the nanoscale, lipid nanoparticles have emerged as novel soft matter platforms that can bridge fundamental molecular design with clinical efficacy. In this review, an extensive analysis of the structure-property-performance relationships of lipid nanostructures-liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) is presented. We examine how the physical state of the lipid matrix, specifically its crystallinity, polymorphism, and phase behaviour, can be engineered to optimise drug loading and release kinetics, which determines their successful clinical translation for breast cancer chemotherapy. Key challenges in translation, such as biological obstacles, scalability of manufacturing, and regulatory issues, are also addressed. This review highlights the pathway for advanced biomaterials in oncology by tackling essential challenges in material manufacturing, like scaling in industrial settings and the effect of the protein corona on ''material identity.'' We ultimately illustrate how expertly designed lipid systems serve as a fundamental element of cutting-edge material science for the future of targeted chemotherapy in breast cancer.