Biomimetic Nanoscale Materials for Skin Cancer Therapy and Detection

Biosensors for melanoma skin cancer diagnostics

Skin cancer is a critical global public health concern, with melanoma being the deadliest variant, correlated to 80% of skin cancer-related deaths and a remarkable propensity to metastasize. Despite notable progress in skin cancer prevention and diagnosis, the limitations of existing methods accentuate the demand for precise diagnostic tools. Biosensors have emerged as valuable clinical tools, enabling rapid and reliable point-of-care (POC) testing of skin cancer. This review offers insights into skin cancer development, highlights essential cutaneous melanoma biomarkers, and assesses the current landscape of biosensing technologies for diagnosis. The comprehensive analysis in this review underscores the transformative potential of biosensors in revolutionizing melanoma skin cancer diagnosis, emphasizing their critical role in advancing patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency. The increasing availability of these approaches supports direct diagnosis and aims to reduce the reliance on biopsies, enhancing POC diagnosis. Recent advancements in biosensors for skin cancer diagnosis hold great promise, with their integration into healthcare expected to enhance early detection accuracy and reliability, thereby mitigating socioeconomic disparities.

Skin cancer: understanding the journey of transformation from conventional to advanced treatment approaches

Skin cancer is a global threat to the healthcare system and is estimated to incline tremendously in the next 20 years, if not diagnosed at an early stage. Even though it is curable at an early stage, novel drug identification, clinical success, and drug resistance is another major challenge. To bridge the gap and bring effective treatment, it is important to understand the etiology of skin carcinoma, the mechanism of cell proliferation, factors affecting cell growth, and the mechanism of drug resistance. The current article focusses on understanding the structural diversity of skin cancers, treatments available till date including phytocompounds, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, photothermal therapy, surgery, combination therapy, molecular targets associated with cancer growth and metastasis, and special emphasis on nanotechnology-based approaches for downregulating the deleterious disease. A detailed analysis with respect to types of nanoparticles and their scope in overcoming multidrug resistance as well as associated clinical trials has been discussed.

Elucidating the adsorption of 2-Mercaptopyridine drug on the aluminum phosphide (Al12P12) nanocage: A DFT study

Adsorption amplitude of the aluminum phosphide (Al12P12) nanocage toward the 2-Mercaptopyridine (MCP) drug was herein monitored based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The adsorption process through MCP⋅⋅⋅Al12P12 complex in various configurations was elucidated by means of adsorption (Eads) energies. According to the energetic affirmations, the Al12P12 nanocage demonstrated potential versatility toward adsorbing the MCP drug within the investigated configurations and exhibited significant negative adsorption energies up to -27.71 kcal/mol. Upon the results of SAPT analysis, the electrostatic forces showed the highest contributions to the overall adsorption process with energetic values up to -74.36 kcal/mol. Concurrently, variations of molecular orbitals distribution along with alterations in the energy gap (Egap) and Fermi level (EFL) of the studied nanocage were denoted after adsorbing the MCP drug. The favorable impact of water solvent within the MCP⋅⋅⋅Al12P12 complexes was unveiled and confirmed by negative solvation energy (ΔEsolv) values up to -17.75 kcal/mol. According to thermodynamic parameters, the spontaneous and exothermic natures of the considered adsorption process were proclaimed by negative values of ΔG and ΔH parameters. Significant changes in the IR and Raman peaks, along with the appearance of new peaks, were noticed, confirming the occurrence of the targeted adsorption process. Furthermore, the adsorption features of the MCP drug on the Al12N12 nanocage were elucidated and compared to the Al12P12 analog. The obtained results demonstrated the higher preferability of Al12P12 nanocage than the Al12N12 candidate towards adsorbing the MCP drug without structural distortion.

Developments and Clinical Applications of Noninvasive Optical Technologies for Skin Cancer Diagnosis

Skin cancer has shown a sharp increase in prevalence over the past few decades and currently accounts for one-third of all cancers diagnosed. The most lethal form of skin cancer is melanoma, which develops in 4% of individuals. The rising prevalence and increased number of fatalities of skin cancer put a significant burden on healthcare resources and the economy. However, early detection and treatment greatly improve survival rates for patients with skin cancer. Since the rising rates of both the incidence and mortality have been particularly noticeable with melanoma, significant resources have been allocated to research aimed at earlier diagnosis and a deeper knowledge of the disease. Dermoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography, multiphoton-excited fluorescence imaging, and dermatofluorescence are only a few of the optical modalities reviewed here that have been employed to enhance noninvasive diagnosis of skin cancer in recent years. This review article discusses the methodology behind newly emerging noninvasive optical diagnostic technologies, their clinical applications, and advantages and disadvantages of these techniques, as well as the potential for their further advancement in the future.