Current advance of nanotechnology in diagnosis and treatment for malignant tumors

• Published in: Signal transduction and targeted therapy Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 200 - 65
• Main Authors: Wang, Bilan, Hu, Shiqi, Teng, Yan, Chen, Junli, Wang, Haoyuan, Xu, Yezhen, Wang, Kaiyu, Xu, Jianguo, Cheng, Yongzhong, Gao, Xiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.08.2024; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/308/153; 692/308/575; Cancer Research; Cancer therapies; Cell Biology; Contrast media; Diagnosis; Drug Delivery Systems; Humans; Internal Medicine; Medical diagnosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nanomedicine - trends; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - therapeutic use; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology - trends; Neoplasms - diagnosis; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - genetics; Neoplasms - therapy; Oncology; Pathology; Review; Review Article; Tumors
• ISSN: 2059-3635; 2095-9907; 2059-3635
• DOI: 10.1038/s41392-024-01889-y

Cancer remains a significant risk to human health. Nanomedicine is a new multidisciplinary field that is garnering a lot of interest and investigation. Nanomedicine shows great potential for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Specifically engineered nanoparticles can be employed as contrast agents in cancer diagnostics to enable high sensitivity and high-resolution tumor detection by imaging examinations. Novel approaches for tumor labeling and detection are also made possible by the use of nanoprobes and nanobiosensors. The achievement of targeted medication delivery in cancer therapy can be accomplished through the rational design and manufacture of nanodrug carriers. Nanoparticles have the capability to effectively transport medications or gene fragments to tumor tissues via passive or active targeting processes, thus enhancing treatment outcomes while minimizing harm to healthy tissues. Simultaneously, nanoparticles can be employed in the context of radiation sensitization and photothermal therapy to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of malignant tumors. This review presents a literature overview and summary of how nanotechnology is used in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors. According to oncological diseases originating from different systems of the body and combining the pathophysiological features of cancers at different sites, we review the most recent developments in nanotechnology applications. Finally, we briefly discuss the prospects and challenges of nanotechnology in cancer.