Recent Developments in Metallic Nanomaterials for Cancer Therapy, Diagnosing and Imaging Applications
Dan Nicolae Păduraru,
Daniel Ion,
Adelina-Gabriela Niculescu,
Florentina Mușat,
Octavian Andronic,
Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu,
Alexandra Bolocan
Affiliations
Dan Nicolae Păduraru
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Daniel Ion
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Adelina-Gabriela Niculescu
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Florentina Mușat
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Octavian Andronic
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Alexandra Bolocan
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Cancer continues to represent a global health concern, imposing an ongoing need to research for better treatment alternatives. In this context, nanomedicine seems to be the solution to existing problems, bringing unprecedented results in various biomedical applications, including cancer therapy, diagnosing, and imaging. As numerous studies have uncovered the advantageous properties of various nanoscale metals, this review aims to present metal-based nanoparticles that are most frequently employed for cancer applications. This paper follows the description of relevant nanoparticles made of metals, metal derivatives, hybrids, and alloys, further discussing in more detail their potential applications in cancer management, ranging from the delivery of chemotherapeutics, vaccines, and genes to ablative hyperthermia therapies and theranostic platforms.
