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Cancer Nanotheranostics: Improving Imaging and Therapy by Targeted Delivery Across Biological Barriers
Author(s) -
Kievit Forrest M.,
Zhang Miqin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201102313
Subject(s) - cancer , cancer therapy , targeted therapy , drug delivery , cancer cell , immunotherapy , targeted drug delivery , cancer stem cell , medicine , radiation therapy , cancer immunotherapy , cancer treatment , nanotechnology , cancer research , materials science
Cancer nanotheranostics aims to combine imaging and therapy of cancer through use of nanotechnology. The ability to engineer nanomaterials to interact with cancer cells at the molecular level can significantly improve the effectiveness and specificity of therapy to cancers that are currently difficult to treat. In particular, metastatic cancers, drug‐resistant cancers, and cancer stem cells impose the greatest therapeutic challenge for targeted therapy. Targeted therapy can be achieved with appropriately designed drug delivery vehicles such as nanoparticles, adult stem cells, or T cells in immunotherapy. In this article, we first review the different types of nanotheranostic particles and their use in imaging, followed by the biological barriers they must bypass to reach the target cancer cells, including the blood, liver, kidneys, spleen, and particularly the blood‐brain barrier. We then review how nanotheranostics can be used to improve targeted delivery and treatment of cancer cells. Finally, we discuss development of nanoparticles to overcome current limitations in cancer therapy.