Controlled drug delivery vehicles for cancer treatment and their performance Cancer is a group of diseases caused by the uncontrolled growth of malignant cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. With over 10 million new cases each year, cancer-related deaths are projected to increase, with an estimated 13.1 million cancer-related deaths by 2030. However, mortality rates have decreased in the past five years due to improved understanding of tumor biology and better diagnostic and treatment methods. Current cancer treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, or combinations of these. Conventional chemotherapy works by interfering with DNA synthesis and mitosis, leading to the death of rapidly growing cancer cells. However, it has several drawbacks, including poor bioavailability, high-dose requirements, adverse side effects, low therapeutic indices, development of multiple drug resistance, and non-specific targeting. To address these issues, drug delivery vehicles are developed to carry drugs to the desired sites of therapeutic action while reducing adverse side effects. This review discusses various materials used as delivery vehicles for chemotherapeutic agents and their structural characteristics that improve therapeutic efficacy. It also emphasizes recent scientific advances in chemotherapy and the challenges in cancer treatment. Nanotechnology has significantly impacted clinical therapeutics in the last two decades. Compared to conventional chemotherapeutic agents, nanoscale drug carriers have shown potential to address some of these challenges by improving treatment efficacy while avoiding toxicity in normal cells due to features such as high selective accumulation in tumors via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and active cellular uptake. Liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, and micelles have demonstrated great potential clinical impacts. Several nanoparticle-based chemotherapeutics are clinically approved, and many more are in various stages of clinical or preclinical development. Nanocarriers for drug delivery include organic and inorganic nanocarriers. Organic nanocarriers include liposomes, lipids, dendrimers, carbon nanotubes, emulsions, and synthetic polymers. Inorganic nanocarriers include quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, layered double hydroxides, mesoporous silica, and magnetic nanoparticles. These nanocarriers have unique biological properties due to their small size and large surface area to volume ratio, allowing them to bind, absorb, and carry anticancer agents. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are inorganic nanocarriers that have been intensively investigated for therapeutic and imaging treatments. They have excellent biocompatibility, anion exchange capability, high drug loading efficacy, and pH-responsive drug release. LDHs can intercalate various important anionic biofunctional molecules, such as DNA, siRNA, nucleotides, and anticancer drugs, showing sustained delivery with high therapeutic efficiency and bioactivity. Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymeric and hydrophilic networks that can absorb large amounts of water or biological fluids. They are efficientControlled drug delivery vehicles for cancer treatment and their performance Cancer is a group of diseases caused by the uncontrolled growth of malignant cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. With over 10 million new cases each year, cancer-related deaths are projected to increase, with an estimated 13.1 million cancer-related deaths by 2030. However, mortality rates have decreased in the past five years due to improved understanding of tumor biology and better diagnostic and treatment methods. Current cancer treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, or combinations of these. Conventional chemotherapy works by interfering with DNA synthesis and mitosis, leading to the death of rapidly growing cancer cells. However, it has several drawbacks, including poor bioavailability, high-dose requirements, adverse side effects, low therapeutic indices, development of multiple drug resistance, and non-specific targeting. To address these issues, drug delivery vehicles are developed to carry drugs to the desired sites of therapeutic action while reducing adverse side effects. This review discusses various materials used as delivery vehicles for chemotherapeutic agents and their structural characteristics that improve therapeutic efficacy. It also emphasizes recent scientific advances in chemotherapy and the challenges in cancer treatment. Nanotechnology has significantly impacted clinical therapeutics in the last two decades. Compared to conventional chemotherapeutic agents, nanoscale drug carriers have shown potential to address some of these challenges by improving treatment efficacy while avoiding toxicity in normal cells due to features such as high selective accumulation in tumors via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and active cellular uptake. Liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, and micelles have demonstrated great potential clinical impacts. Several nanoparticle-based chemotherapeutics are clinically approved, and many more are in various stages of clinical or preclinical development. Nanocarriers for drug delivery include organic and inorganic nanocarriers. Organic nanocarriers include liposomes, lipids, dendrimers, carbon nanotubes, emulsions, and synthetic polymers. Inorganic nanocarriers include quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, layered double hydroxides, mesoporous silica, and magnetic nanoparticles. These nanocarriers have unique biological properties due to their small size and large surface area to volume ratio, allowing them to bind, absorb, and carry anticancer agents. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are inorganic nanocarriers that have been intensively investigated for therapeutic and imaging treatments. They have excellent biocompatibility, anion exchange capability, high drug loading efficacy, and pH-responsive drug release. LDHs can intercalate various important anionic biofunctional molecules, such as DNA, siRNA, nucleotides, and anticancer drugs, showing sustained delivery with high therapeutic efficiency and bioactivity. Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymeric and hydrophilic networks that can absorb large amounts of water or biological fluids. They are efficient