The Upcoming Field of Theranostic Nanomedicine: An Overview

Abstract

Nanocarriers have drastically changed the face of health care by making a mark in diverse arenas of diagnosis, drug delivery, and gene delivery to name a few. The recent feat in nanotechnology has been the birth of nanotheranostics which aims at blending both therapeutic and diagnostic functions within a single nanoscaffold. The field of theranostic nanomedicine is a result of fruitful advances in fields of material science, imaging modalities, formulation development, and molecular biology. Theranostic nanomedicine that was at first developed for enhancing the quality of treatment meted out to cancer patients has now been explored even in atherosclerosis and infections, albeit to a lower extent. The review summarizes various types of nanocarriers that have been explored with one or sometimes multiple imaging modalities for an array of applications ranging from drug delivery and gene delivery to photosensitizing agent delivery for photodynamic therapy. The article also highlights the few but significant developments made in the field of theranostic nanomedicine for atherosclerosis and infections. In conclusion, theranostic nanomedicine is a rapidly growing field. However, there are a few problems that need to be addressed before theranostic nanocarriers carve a niche for themselves in the clinic.

Intracellular delivery and sensing based on polyelectrolyte multilayer capsules

“…The major example where personalized medicine is expected to improve treatment is cancer [88,89]. Theranostics is the term to describe the combination of therapy and diagnostics in one treatment [90,91]. Within this section we outline the advantages and possibilities of polymer capsules for use in both diagnosis and therapy.…”

Applications of nanotechnology for melanoma treatment, diagnosis, and theranostics

“…Furthermore, nanoparticles can be designed to have multiple functions, such as targeting to cancer cells and producing image contrast. 24 Many nanoparticles have been studied for the treatment of melanoma, including liposomes, dendrimers, polymersomes, carbon-based nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, and protein-based nanoparticles (Table 1). 16,25,26 A liposome is a sphere consisting of a lipid bilayer that contains aqueous core for hydrophilic drugs.…”

“…16,25,26 A liposome is a sphere consisting of a lipid bilayer that contains aqueous core for hydrophilic drugs. 24 Hydrophobic drugs can be contained between the two layers. Liposome was invented more than 50 years ago and was the first nanoparticle used in medicine.…”

Biomimetic Apatite-Based Functional Nanoparticles as Promising Newcomers in Nanomedicine: Overview of 10 Years of Initiatory Research

“…In particular, the systems ought to exhibit a high biocompatibility 1 . Also, a growing attention is paid to the setup of versatile functional nanoparticles allowing multi-functionalization, e.g., associating simultaneously a cell targeting agent, a stabilizing agent for colloidal stabilization, a drug to be delivered intracellularly, etc., In the latter case, the nanoprobes initially intended for cell diagnosis then also become a drug-carrier, paving the way for theranostic approaches, coupling therapy and diagnosis [8][9][10].…”