The Promise of Nanotechnology in Personalized Medicine

Abstract

Both personalized medicine and nanomedicine are new to medical practice. Nanomedicine is an application of the advances of nanotechnology in medicine and is being integrated into diagnostic and therapeutic tools to manage an array of medical conditions. On the other hand, personalized medicine, which is also referred to as precision medicine, is a novel concept that aims to individualize/customize therapeutic management based on the personal attributes of the patient to overcome blanket treatment that is only efficient in a subset of patients, leaving others with either ineffective treatment or treatment that results in significant toxicity. Novel nanomedicines have been employed in the treatment of several diseases, which can be adapted to each patient-specific case according to their genetic profiles. In this review, we discuss both areas and the intersection between the two emerging scientific domains. The review focuses on the current situation in personalized medicine, the advantages that can be offered by nanomedicine to personalized medicine, and the application of nanoconstructs in the diagnosis of genetic variability that can identify the right drug for the right patient. Finally, we touch upon the challenges in both fields towards the translation of nano-personalized medicine.

The nano-revolution in the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis

“…135 Nanomedicine could also be useful in the development of new treatment procedures, and in the identification of biological markers that could be applied in clinical practice to stratify the risk of disease recurrence or persistence, with a significant impact on disease management and decision-making approaches for personalized treatment and patient follow-up. 153,154 Due to similarities between cancer and endometriosis, some fundamental principles of cancer nanomedicine can be adapted to develop novel NPsbased strategies. 3 In general, data available in the literature demonstrate that these nanosystems can be optimized and functionalized in order to be applied in endometriosis.…”

Synergistic applications of cyclodextrin-based systems and metal–organic frameworks in transdermal drug delivery for skin cancer therapy

“…11 It's capability in improving binding affinity, enhancing bioavailability and compatibility, and optimizing therapeutic effectiveness by implementing a controlled drug release profile provides the probability of creating personalized medicine for the treatment of cancer. 12 In the case of skin cancer therapy, nanomaterials could deliver therapeutic materials via transdermal pathway, a method with low invasiveness that not only enhances medication effectiveness of drug compounds via increasing their bioavailability in specific skin areas, but also reduces the likelihood of unexpected side effects. To better understand the mechanisms through which nanomaterials, including MOFs, facilitate transdermal drug delivery, it is essential to introduce the concepts of transepidermal and transappendageal routes.…”

Environmental impacts associated with the manufacturing of personalised medicines: a scoping review

“…• articles concerned with the environmental impact assessment of using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), designer interference peptides (iPeps), solid-phase peptides, and/or iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) because these nanoparticles are most associated with personalised medicine manufacturing, such as targeted cancer therapies (78)(79)(80).…”