Conventional cancer treatments often damage both tumour and healthy cells, leading to significant systemic toxicity.
This has created an urgent need for the advancements of targeted drug delivery systems that can selectively reach cancer cells or tissues and release the drug precisely at the intended site. Recent advancements in anticancer therapy have highlighted the importance of innovative drug delivery strategies in enhancing treatment efficacy and improving patient outcomes. This review provides an analysis of advanced drug delivery systems, exploring their mechanisms of action, key developments, and therapeutic applications. Particular relevance is given to self-assembling nanosystems, with a focus on bioinspired nanomaterials, such as selfassembled peptide nanosystems, which constitute promising drug delivery tools due to their biocompatibility and potential lack of toxicity. The review also addresses the advantages, challenges, and future potentials of drug delivery systems in cancer treatment.

Impact statement
Advanced drug delivery systems, including self-assembling peptide nanosystems, offer targeted and biocompatible solutions for cancer therapy, reducing the systemic toxicity of chemotherapy drugs and improving treatment efficacy.