Nanoparticles: A New Approach to Upgrade Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract

Traditional cancer therapeutics have been criticized due to various adverse effects and insufficient damage to targeted tumors. The breakthrough of nanoparticles provides a novel approach for upgrading traditional treatments and diagnosis. Actually, nanoparticles can not only solve the shortcomings of traditional cancer diagnosis and treatment, but also create brand-new perspectives and cutting-edge devices for tumor diagnosis and treatment. However, most of the research about nanoparticles stays in vivo and in vitro stage, and only few clinical researches about nanoparticles have been reported. In this review, we first summarize the current applications of nanoparticles in cancer diagnosis and treatment. After that, we propose the challenges that hinder the clinical applications of NPs and provide feasible solutions in combination with the updated literature in the last two years. At the end, we will provide our opinions on the future developments of NPs in tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Cancer; Nano-cryosurgery; Nanoparticle; Photothermal therapy; Targeted delivery.

Fig. 1

Schematic diagram of the sol–gel method

Fig. 2

Diagrammatic illustration of imaging improved of NPs

Fig. 3

Diagrammatic illustration of passive targeting of NPs

Fig. 4

Diagrammatic illustration of active targeting of NPs

Fig. 5

Diagrammatic illustration of NPs for cryosurgery. a NPs protect health cells during cryosurgery. b NPs enhance the freezing damage and control the freezing coverage. c With the help of NPs, more ice has been formed

Fig. 6

Diagrammatic illustration of NPs-mediated PDT and PTT. a NPs promote the generation of reactive oxygen. b NPs enhance tumor damage during PTT