One way to enhance the pharmacological characteristics of frequently used chemicals in cancer detection and therapy is to employ nanocarriers as drug delivery vehicles for therapeutic or imaging agents. Nanocarriers have emerged as promising options for targeted drug delivery research due to developments in surface engineering of nanoparticles to accept targeting ligands. Nanocarriers are now utilized to treat and/or diagnose several kinds of malignancies, however they are not targeted. Several nanocarriers have been authorized for clinical usage. In addition, other formulations are now being tested in different phases of clinical studies. The benefits of using nanocarriers in cancer treatment were covered in this review, which also looked at a few authorized formulations.