Multifunctional organic and inorganic nanoparticles, nanowires and nanotubes are known as nanovectors. Nanovectors are found most useful for combined targeted delivery of anticancer drugs with localized killing of cancerous and pre-cancerous cells through thermal ablation and in the development of nanosurgical tools that may be integrated with conventional surgical tools for the treatment of cancerous diseases.

For the targeted delivery of drugs to cancer cells, nanovectors are developed having their surface modified with biological materials such as antibodies. This technology has the potential to make a multiphase attack against cancer cells. For example, nanoparticle constructs facilitate the delivery of various forms of energy for noninvasive thermal destruction of malignant tumors that may be inaccessible for traditional surgical techniques. Similarly hollow nanovectors can be filled with anticancer agents to deliver when they reach their target cancer cells and after delivery they can be destroyed using external energy sources such as optical or magnetic. Nanovectors may be injected directly into cancer sites or selectively directed against cell clusters or made to travel into the blood to target cancer cells. They are able to kill both malignant cancer cells and cells that are in the early stages of transformation.

Liposomes are one of the most widely used nanovectors for different types of drug delivery modalities in the fight against cancer. Nanoparticle toolset are used for therapeutic release by liposomes, dendrimers, smart polymers, and virus-based systems. Also monoclonal antibody nanoparticle complexes are used for diagnosis as well as targeted delivery of cancer therapy.