International Journal of Nanomedicine (May 2022)
Multifunctional Gold Nanoparticles in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
Abstract
Yan Yang,1,* Xi Zheng,1,* Lu Chen,1 Xuefeng Gong,2 Hao Yang,2 Xingmei Duan,1 Yuxuan Zhu1 1Department of Pharmacy, Personalized Drug Therapy Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610072, People’s Republic of China; 2POWERCHINA Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, Chengdu, 611130, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yuxuan Zhu, Department of Pharmacy, Personalized Drug Therapy Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610072, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world, behind only cardiovascular diseases, and is one of the most serious diseases threatening human health nowadays. Cancer patients’ lives are being extended by the use of contemporary medical technologies, such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. However, these treatments are not always effective in extending cancer patients’ lives. Simultaneously, these approaches are often accompanied with a series of negative consequences, such as the occurrence of adverse effects and an increased risk of relapse. As a result, the development of a novel cancer-eradication strategy is still required. The emergence of nanomedicine as a promising technology brings a new avenue for the circumvention of limitations of conventional cancer therapies. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), in particular, have garnered extensive attention due to their many specific advantages, including customizable size and shape, multiple and useful physicochemical properties, and ease of functionalization. Based on these characteristics, many therapeutic and diagnostic applications of AuNPs have been exploited, particularly for malignant tumors, such as drug and nucleic acid delivery, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, and X-ray-based computed tomography imaging. To leverage the potential of AuNPs, these applications demand a comprehensive and in-depth overview. As a result, we discussed current achievements in AuNPs in anticancer applications in a more methodical manner in this review. Also addressed in depth are the present status of clinical trials, as well as the difficulties that may be encountered when translating some basic findings into the clinic, in order to serve as a reference for future studies.Keywords: gold nanoparticles, cancer, drug delivery, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy
