Recent Advances in the au NP Treatment Strategies of Lung Cancers

Abstract

Of late, drug delivery using metal nanoparticles (NPs) having tunable geometric and physicochemical properties has been an intriguing domain of research. The foremost advantages of overwhelming scientific interest toward nanoparticle (NP)-mediated drug delivery encompass the size- and shape-specific response, capability of selective delivery to only affected cells, and, above all, the reduced patient sensitization via moderation of drug payloads. Among the several kinds of metal NPs, Au-based NPs are swiftly emerging as robust agents for delivering drugs to even most hard to reach body locations. The chief specialty of Au NPs is the diversity of their shapes and inert nature, making them much less toxic (than anticipated), thermally conducting chemical response which imparts them a synergistic chemical response along with the tagged drugs. A lot has been talked about the insufficient drug internalization once it has been delivered to treat cancers. The multifunctional Au NPs portray a benign solution in this regard via simultaneous surface tagging of diagnostic and drug delivery agents on their surface. Studies have shown a significant improvement in the drug internalization capability of Au nanorods (NRs) compared to their spherical counterparts, which has recently intensified investigations on NR-based anticancer therapies. Another interesting property of Au NPs has been their versatile and much easily available preparation methods that require less energy from outside and are also biocompatible. Among several methods, those involving chemical reduction have been the subject of interest, owing to a vast range of available reducing agents which could provide NPs of different features. With such insights, the present compilation summarizes the most recent attempts in Au NP-based lung cancer (LC) treatment strategies, focusing peculiarly on shape- and size-dependent differential impacts.