Nanoparticles Design for Theranostic Approach in Cancer Disease

Abstract

Presently, there are no conclusive treatments for many types of cancer, mainly due to the advanced phase of the disease at the time of diagnosis and to the side effects of existing therapies. Present diagnostic and therapeutic procedures need to be improved to supply early detection abilities and perform a more specific therapy with reduced systemic toxicity. In this review, improvements in nanotechnology allowing the design of multifunctional nanoparticles for cancer detection, therapy, and monitoring are reported. Nanoparticles, thanks to the nanomaterials they are made of, can be used as contrast agents for various diagnostic techniques such as MRI, optical imaging, and photoacoustic imaging. Furthermore, when used as drug carriers, they can accumulate in tumor tissues through the passive or/and active targeting, protect encapsulated drugs from degradation, raise tumor exposure to chemotherapeutic agents improving treatment effects. In addition, nanocarriers can simultaneously deliver more than one therapeutic agent enhancing the effectiveness of therapy and can co-deliver imaging and therapy agents to provide integration of diagnostics, therapy, and follow-up. Furthermore, the use of nanocarriers allows to use different therapeutic approaches, such as chemotherapy and hyperthermia to exploit synergistic effects. Theranostic approach to diagnose and treat cancer show a great potential to improve human health, however, despite technological advances in this field, the transfer into clinical practice is still a long way off.

Recent Advances in 64Cu/67Cu-Based Radiopharmaceuticals

“…Recently, Pijeira et al summarized the use of radiolabeled nanomaterials for biomedical applications [147]. Recently, Carrese et al have also summarized the use of Nps in cancer theranostics [148]. Herein, we provide several examples of radiolabeled Nps for various biomedical applications.…”

Revolution in Cancer Treatment: How Are Intelligently Designed Nanostructures Changing the Game?

“…Recent progress in cancer diagnosis and treatment can be linked to the physicochemical properties of NPs and the capacity to tailor the surface of NPs for specific uses [19,20]. NPs are defined as small particles ranging from 10 to 500 nm in size, which are synthesized using chemical-physical methods and are composed of diverse materials such as organic, inorganic, and biological substances [21].…”

Aqueous Circularly Polarized Luminescence Induced by Homopolypeptide Self-Assembly

“…Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) refers to the phenomenon in which chiral luminescent materials emit left-handed or right-handed circularly polarized light upon excitation by monochromatic light. − Most CPL-active materials are based on chiral organic, inorganic, and polymer materials to helically anchor achiral luminophores, − which play important roles in selective recognition, asymmetric synthesis, optoelectric devices, biomedical applications, − and other fields. , Among these materials, biomolecule-based CPL-active materials have currently attracted intensive interest due to their advantages exhibited not only in the natural and variable configurations of biomolecules that facilitate CPL generation but also in their intrinsic biodegradability and biocompatibility, which allow them to be applied in biomedical fields . To date, aqueous nanoaggregate-based drug delivery systems integrated with bioimaging and disease theranostics have experienced considerable development and shown huge potential. − It is significant to endue these nanoaggregates with CPL property because it can enhance the quality of bioimaging by suppressing autofluorescence of biological species. However, such biomolecule-based CPL-active nanoaggregates have been rarely investigated, possibly due to the lack of facile strategies to realize CPL release from nanoaggregates in the aqueous phase, for the potential mechanism of chiral production, transfer, and amplification processes is not clear during the formation of these biomolecule-based nanoaggregates. ,, Therefore, it is in demand but still challenging to propose a facial strategy to equip aqueous dispersed nanoaggregates with CPL property based on biomolecules.…”