The skin is the largest organ of the human body and acts as a major protective barrier against external agents. However, the highly organized stratum corneum limits the effective delivery of many therapeutic compounds, especially hydrophilic and high-molecular-weight drugs. Conventional topical formulations often exhibit poor permeability, low bioavailability, and limited targeting efficiency. This review discusses recent advances in nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems, including bio-based, biodegradable, and biocompatible polymeric nanocarriers for dermal and transdermal applications, with particular emphasis on vesicular, polymeric, and hybrid nanosystems. Nanocarriers such as liposomes, ethosomes, transfersomes, polymeric nanoparticles, micelles, nanogels, and lipid–polymer hybrid systems have demonstrated improved drug solubility, stability, controlled release, and skin permeation for localized (dermal) delivery compared with conventional formulations. In addition, biodegradable polymeric materials enhance dermal deposition and prolong drug retention, leading to improved therapeutic efficacy. These nanosystems can facilitate enhanced transdermal drug transport under optimized conditions; however, the extent of systemic delivery varies widely depending on drug physicochemical properties, formulation characteristics, and application conditions. Drug transport may occur through intercellular, transcellular, and follicular pathways, resulting in enhanced bioavailability and site-specific delivery. Claims regarding transdermal (systemic) absorption are restricted to cases supported by in vivo or clinical evidence. Furthermore, combining nanocarriers with microneedles and stimuli-responsive platforms has expanded the potential for controlled and on-demand transdermal delivery. Recent preclinical and clinical studies have reported that nanocarrier-based methotrexate gels reduced PASI-like scores by over 70% in psoriatic models, while oleic acid vesicle formulations achieved more than 95% cure rates in rodent models of tinea corporis. Despite these advances, challenges related to large-scale production, stability, regulatory approval, and clinical translation remain significant. Future developments integrating smart nanocarriers, bio-based polymeric biomaterials, wearable technologies, and AI-assisted design may improve personalized dermatological therapies. These innovations in nanocarrier drug delivery are accelerating the translation of advanced therapies to the clinic, promising safer, more effective and personalized dermatological treatments.

Liposomal drug delivery systems have evolved into clinically relevant platforms for delivering small molecules, biologics, and vaccines. Nevertheless, a persistent translational gap remains between promising laboratory-scale formulations and reproducible pharmaceutical products. This review provides a practical framework linking liposome formulation, physicochemical characterization, manufacturing, and stability to pharmaceutical translation. Particular emphasis is placed on relationships between critical process parameters and critical quality attributes, including vesicle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, morphology, lamellarity, encapsulation efficiency, drug loading, and in vitro release behavior. Preparation and cargo-loading strategies are discussed across conventional research-scale methods and approaches with potential for scalable manufacturing. Microfluidic production of conventional liposomes is distinguished from the manufacture of structurally distinct RNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles. Purification strategies and analytical determination of encapsulation efficiency are examined, with attention to the distinction between separation techniques and quantitative analytical methods. Lamellarity is highlighted as a structural determinant of encapsulation capacity, membrane organization, and release behavior, with complementary assessment by cryo-TEM, ³¹P-NMR, and small-angle X-ray scattering. Quality-control challenges associated with aggregation, fusion, cargo leakage, phospholipid hydrolysis, oxidation, and sterilization are also considered. Dry-state stabilization through lyophilization and spray drying is discussed for its potential to improve long-term stability and reduce cold-chain dependence. Ligand-targeted liposomes introduce additional requirements for surface characterization and biological evaluation, while approved products and investigational formulations illustrate achievements and limitations in clinical translation. Overall, this review emphasizes the importance of establishing relationships between formulation composition, processing, structural organization, stability, and functional performance to support more reproducible development and informed pharmaceutical translation.

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common cancers in men globally and there is an urgent need for new immune-based approaches because many traditional therapies, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and anti-androgens, have limitations. Due to their distinct physicochemical and biological features, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are emerging as a potential nanoplatform for the development of strategies in prostate cancer therapy. These features include tunable size, shape, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and high surface-to-volume ratio, which result in enhanced drug loading, targeted delivery and improved bioavailability. In addition, AuNPs can also be functionalized for active targeting to promote selective accumulation in tumors while minimizing systemic toxicity. In addition, the intrinsic optical and photothermal properties of these nanoparticles allow them to serve for PTT, radiosensitization and multimodal imaging, i.e., CT (computed tomography) and photoacoustic imaging. These have shown potential in pre-clinical and clinical evaluation but face issues with long-term toxicity, biodistribution and large-scale manufacturing. In this review, we summarize the organizing features, functional properties, therapeutic activities and translational potentials of AuNPs in prostate cancer treatment, with emphasis on their contributions towards precision nanomedicine.