Abstract
Advances in technology of the past decades led to development of new nanometer scale diagnosis and treatment approaches in cancer medicine leading to establishment of nanooncology. Inorganic and organic nanomaterials have been shown to improve bioimaging techniques and targeted drug delivery systems. Their favorable physico-chemical characteristics, like small sizes, large surface area compared to volume, specific structural characteristics, and possibility to attach different molecules on their surface transform them into excellent transport vehicles able to cross cell and/or tissue barriers, including the blood–brain barrier. The latter is one of the greatest challenges in diagnosis and treatment of brain cancers. Application of nanomaterials can prolong the circulation time of the drugs and contrasting agents in the brain, posing an excellent opportunity for advancing the treatment of the most aggressive form of the brain cancer—glioblastomas. However, possible unwanted side-effects and toxicity issues must be considered before final clinical translation of nanoparticles.
Highlights
Advances in technology of the past decades led to development of new nanometer scale diagnosis and treatment approaches in cancer medicine leading to establishment of nanooncology
Delivery of the drugs through is associated withdugs the ability of nanoparticles to mask the the. This is of great importance, since, with targeted delivery systems, blood–brain barrier (BBB)-limiting characteristics of the drugs, meaning that dugs are delivered to the brain through the chemotherapeutic drugs likeThis paclitaxel delivered tosince, the brain concentrations than is of can greatbeimportance, withintargeted deliverylower systems, standard therapeutic doses the free drug, which resultstointhe safer drug while still achieving chemotherapeutic drugs likeofpaclitaxel can be delivered brain indosing concentrations lower than standard therapeutic doses of the free drug, which results in safer drug dosing while still achieving desired therapeutic efficacy [14]
While organic particles are mostly used for drug delivery and treatment, the inorganic nanoparticles have been mostly used for different diagnostic bioimaging techniques for improved tumor visualization by enhancing the contrast between tumor and healthy tissue and in some cases as effective drug delivery systems [16]
Summary
Advancement in medicine has been significant in the past decades, the early diagnosis, adequate therapy and favorable outcome of cancer treatment remain to be very challenging. The number of studies on nanomaterials is growing and it has been shown that their future in medicine is promising, as they have several exclusive physico-chemical and biological features like small sizes, large surface area compared to volume, specific structural characteristic, possibility to attach different molecules on their surface, capacity to cross cell and/or tissue barriers, and long circulation time in the bloodstream. They can be used in several different biological applications from drug delivery systems, to contrasting agents, and diagnostic tools for highly specific detection of macromolecules [8]. In order to improve the sensibility of cancer detection and to achieve more effective treatment outcomes, the nanomaterials offer many advantages, in the view of establishing personalized approaches in diagnosis and treatment of glioblastoma [4,24]
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