Purpose: The multikinase inhibitor sorafenib displays antitumor activity in preclinical models of osteosarcoma. However, in sorafenib-treated patients with metastatic-relapsed osteosarcoma, disease stabilization and tumor shrinkage were short-lived and drug resistance occurred.

In recent decades ultrasound-guided delivery of drugs loaded on nanocarriers has been the focus of increasing attention to improve therapeutic treatments. Ultrasound has often been used in combination with microbubbles, micron-sized spherical gas-filled structures stabilized by a shell, to amplify the biophysical effects of the ultrasonic field. Nanometer size bubbles are defined nanobubbles. They were designed to obtain more efficient drug delivery systems. Indeed, their small sizes allow extravasation from blood vessels into surrounding tissues and ultrasound-targeted site-specific release with minimal invasiveness. Additionally, nanobubbles might be endowed with improved stability and longer residence time in systemic circulation. This review will describe the physico-chemical properties of nanobubbles, the formulation parameters and the drug loading approaches, besides potential applications as a therapeutic tool.

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Ag nanoparticles synthesized on porous silicon samples were studied and applied as substrates for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The metallic nanostructures prepared by immersion plating were characterized by UV–Vis reflectance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. SERS activity of the substrates was tested using Cyanine dye 1,3,3,1′,3′,3′‐esamethyl‐5,5′‐dimethoxyindodicarbocyanine iodide (Cy5‐OCH3) as a probe molecule. The Raman spectra obtained for different excitation wavelengths indicate amplifications ascribed to plasmonic resonances with an enhancement factor up to 107. CGIYRLRS peptides were chemisorbed on the Ag nanoparticles with the plasmonic resonance tuned at the excitation energy. Such oligopeptides were used as baits for a specific polyclonal antibody. The overall Raman enhancement allowed to evidence a good selectivity to the target analyte as required by most of the SERS applications on biological assays. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.