Cancer Nanotheranostics: A New Paradigm of Simultaneous Diagnosis and Therapy

Abstract

Despite improvements in our understanding of cancer and the emerging concept of personalized medicine for the treatment of this disease, it is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Although, in recent years, significant advances have been achieved in cancer therapy, many tumors are still challenging to treat and novel strategies are required to effectivel y combat this deadly disease. Nanotheranostics is a burgeoning field which makes use of nanotechnology for diagnosis and therapy of cancer. The recent advancement in the area of nanotechnology has enabled a new generation of different types of nanomaterials composed of either inorganic or polymer based nanoparticles to be useful for nanotheranostics applications such as to diagnose and treat diseases and monitoring the therapeutic response in vivo at molecular level; to enhance the control, evaluation and optimization of drug delivery and release; to target the drug by conjugating theranostic nanoplatformes with biological ligands. This review, therefore, summarizes the various nanocarriers developed so far for the simultaneous imaging and therapy, strategies for their targeted delivery, their potential applications and the challenges in their development and application for cancer therapy.

An overview and bibliometric analysis on the colorectal cancer therapy by magnetic functionalized nanoparticles for the responsive and targeted drug delivery

“…Among many probable usages of nanoparticles lies the area of drug delivery; they can deliver large quantities of drugs or other medical cargoes due to the large surface area of nanoparticles [ 36 , 37 ], then the emergence of beneficial drug delivery systems is one of the vital factors [ 38 ]. Furthermore, the nano agents for theranostics of cancer have emerged as a promising research area that could integrate the treatment and diagnosis of cancer by combining nanoplatforms with therapeutic agents to enhance tumor-specific targeted drug accumulation in cancer cells, leaving the normal cells unaltered [ 39 ]. The main concern is improving the efficiency of drug delivery procedures, generally defined as sustainability, low disruptions, and precise and accurate targeted delivery control [ 40 ].…”

Recent Advances in Porphyrin-Based Inorganic Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment

“…Importantly, NPs give amphilicity to PSs in order to bypass through the blood stream unaffected [51]. Since NPs are small in size when conjugated to PSs, they enhance passive diffusion into tumor cells through the EPR effect [4,52]. Furthermore, PS-NP conjugates can be bound to various targeting ligands to improve active targeted delivery of PSs into deep seated tumors, resulting in a high accumulation of the therapeutic agent and improved PDD or PDT outcomes [4].…”

“…Furthermore, the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) [61] and Au metallic components allow for photothermal conversion in cancer phototherapeutic treatments and so contribute to the overall effectivity of the treatment via tumor theranostic heat destruction [62]. However, the low biocompatibility of noble metal NPs sometimes causes restrains within in vivo applications [4].…”

“…Various nanocarbons including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), fullerene, nanodiamonds, and carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) are potential assets in phototherapeutic applications [113]. Their tunable surface structure, high drug loading capacity and noticeable fluorescence are promising features of nanocarbon NPs and tubes as PS nanocarriers and theranostic contributors to PDT [4].…”

“…Nanotechnology can overcome these obstacles by using engineered nanomedicines, such as nanoparticles (NPs) conjugated drugs. Further to this, cancer nanotheranostics has emerged as a promising research area, where nanotechnology is used to integrate the diagnosis and treatment of cancer by combining nanoplatforms with therapeutic agents, in order to enhance tumor specific targeted drug accumulation in cancer cells only, leaving the normal cells unaffected [4].…”