Comparison of quantum-dots- and fluorescein-isothiocyanate-based technology for detecting prostate-specific antigen expression in human prostate cancer

Cancer treatment and toxicity outlook of nanoparticles

Diversified nanosystems with tunable physicochemical attributes have emerged as potential solution to globally devastating cancer by offering novel possibilities for improving the techniques of cancer detection, imaging, therapies, diagnosis, drug delivery and treatment. Drug delivery systems based on nanoparticles (NPs) with ability of crossing different biological barriers are becoming increasingly popular. Besides, NPs are utilized in pharmaceutical sciences to mitigate the toxicity of conventional cancer therapeutics. However, significant NPs-associated toxicity, off-targeted activities, and low biocompatibility limit their utilization for cancer theranostics and can be hazardous to cancer patients up to life-threatening conditions. NPs interact with the biomolecules and disturb their regular function by aggregating inside cells and forming a protein corona, and the formulation turns ineffective in controlling cancer cell growth. The adverse interactions between NPs and biological entities can lead to life-threatening toxicities. This review focuses on the widespread use of various NPs including zinc oxide, titanium oxide, silver, and gold, which serve as efficient nano-vehicles and demonstrate notable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic advantages in cancer therapy. Subsequently, the mechanism of nanotoxicity attached with these NPs, alternate solutions and their prospect to revolutionize cancer theranostics are highlighted. This review will serve as guide for future developments associated with high-performance NPs with controlled toxicity for establishing them as modern-age nanotools to manage cancer in tailored manner.

The evolution of nucleosidic analogues: self-assembly of prodrugs into nanoparticles for cancer drug delivery

Nucleoside and nucleotide analogs are essential tools in our limited arsenal in the fight against cancer. However, these structures face severe drawbacks such as rapid plasma degradation or hydrophilicity, limiting their clinical application. Here, different aspects of nucleoside and nucleotide analogs have been exposed, while providing their shortcomings. Aiming to improve their fate in the body and combating their drawbacks, two different approaches have been discussed, the prodrug and nanocarrier technologies. Finally, a novel approach called "PUFAylation" based on both the prodrug and nanocarrier technologies has been introduced, promising to be the supreme method to create a novel nucleoside or nucleotide analog based formulation, with enhanced efficacy and highly reduced toxicity.

Cancer Nanotechnology: A New Revolution for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

BACKGROUND

Nanotechnology is gaining significant attention worldwide for cancer treatment. Nanobiotechnology encourages the combination of diagnostics with therapeutics, which is a vital component of a customized way to deal with the malignancy. Nanoparticles are being used as Nanomedicine which participates in diagnosis and treatment of various diseases including cancer. The unique characteristic of Nanomedicine i.e. their high surface to volume ratio enables them to tie, absorb, and convey small biomolecule like DNA, RNA, drugs, proteins, and other molecules to targeted site and thus enhances the efficacy of therapeutic agents.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present article is to provide an insight of several aspect of nanotechnology in cancer therapeutics such as various nanomaterials as drug vehicle, drug release strategies and role of nanotechnology in cancer therapy.

METHODS

We performed an extensive search on bibliographic database for research article on nanotechnology and cancer therapeutics and further compiled the necessary information from various articles into the present article.

RESULTS

Cancer nanotechnology confers a unique technology against cancer through early diagnosis, prevention, personalized therapy by utilizing nanoparticles and quantum dots.Nano-biotechnology plays an important role in the discovery of cancer biomarkers. Quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, gold nanowires etc. have been developed as a carrier of biomolecules that can detect cancer biomarkers. Nanoparticle assisted cancer detection and monitoring involves biomolecules like proteins, antibody fragments, DNA fragments, and RNA fragments as the base of cancer biomarkers.

CONCLUSION

This review highlights various approaches of cancer nanotechnology in the advancement of cancer therapy.

Application of Nanotechnology in Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy - A Mini-Review

Cancer is a leading cause of death and poor quality of life globally. Even though several strategies are devised to reduce deaths, reduce chronic pain and improve the quality of life, there remains a shortfall in the adequacies of these cancer therapies. Among the cardinal steps towards ensuring optimal cancer treatment are early detection of cancer cells and drug application with high specificity to reduce toxicities. Due to increased systemic toxicities and refractoriness with conventional cancer diagnostic and therapeutic tools, other strategies including nanotechnology are being employed to improve diagnosis and mitigate disease severity. Over the years, immunotherapeutic agents based on nanotechnology have been used for several cancer types to reduce the invasiveness of cancerous cells while sparing healthy cells at the target site. Nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes, polymeric micelles and liposomes have been used in cancer drug design where they have shown considerable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic benefits in cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this review, we outline the commonly used nanomaterials which are employed in cancer diagnosis and therapy. We have highlighted the suitability of these nanomaterials for cancer management based on their physicochemical and biological properties. We further reviewed the challenges that are associated with the various nanomaterials which limit their uses and hamper their translatability into the clinical setting in certain cancer types.

Nanooncology: the future of cancer diagnosis and therapy

In recent years, there has been an unprecedented expansion in the field of nanomedicine with the development of new nanoparticles for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Nanoparticles have unique biological properties given their small size and large surface area-to-volume ratio, which allows them to bind, absorb, and carry compounds such as small molecule drugs, DNA, RNA, proteins, and probes with high efficiency. Their tunable size, shape, and surface characteristics also enable them to have high stability, high carrier capacity, the ability to incorporate both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances and compatibility with different administration routes, thereby making them highly attractive in many aspects of oncology. This review article will discuss how nanoparticles are able to function as carriers for chemotherapeutic drugs to increase their therapeutic index; how they can function as therapeutic agents in photodynamic, gene, and thermal therapy; and how nanoparticles can be used as molecular imaging agents to detect and monitor cancer progression.

Quantum dots for cancer research: current status, remaining issues, and future perspectives

Cancer is a major threat to public health in the 21st century because it is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The mechanisms of carcinogenesis, cancer invasion, and metastasis remain unclear. Thus, the development of a novel approach for cancer detection is urgent, and real-time monitoring is crucial in revealing its underlying biological mechanisms. With the optical and chemical advantages of quantum dots (QDs), QD-based nanotechnology is helpful in constructing a biomedical imaging platform for cancer behavior study. This review mainly focuses on the application of QD-based nanotechnology in cancer cell imaging and tumor microenvironment studies both in vivo and in vitro, as well as the remaining issues and future perspectives.

Applications of quantum dots as probes in immunosensing of small-sized analytes

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanoparticles with very interesting optical properties, like high quantum yield or narrow and size-tuneable fluorescence spectra. Current applications of QDs are widespread, their use as fluorescence labels in bioassays being one of the most promising. These nanoparticles are usually conjugated to highly specific biomolecules like antibodies, oligonucleotides, enzymes or aptamers to improve assay selectivity. In this review, QD surface passivation, conjugation to biomolecules, and purification strategies are discussed with special emphasis to the development of QD-based immunoassays for the detection of low molecular weight compounds given the relevance of this sort of analytes in health, food safety, pharmaceutical, or environmental monitoring areas. The aim of this review is to summarise the main achievements attained so far and to initialise researchers in the field of antibody-based assays employing QDs as labels, such as fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (FLISA), fluorescence (or Förster) resonance energy transfer (FRET), immunochromatographic methods, and immunosensors.