Nano-Oncology: Clinical Application for Cancer Therapy and Future Perspectives

Nano-oncology, the application of Nanomedicine to cancer diagnosis and treatment, has the potential to transform clinical oncology by enhancing the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy for a wide spectrum of invasive cancers. It achieves this by enabling novel drug delivery systems which target the tumou...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cristina Riggio, Eleonora Pagni, Vittoria Raffa, Alfred Cuschieri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2011-01-01
Series:Journal of Nanomaterials
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/164506
Description
Summary:Nano-oncology, the application of Nanomedicine to cancer diagnosis and treatment, has the potential to transform clinical oncology by enhancing the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy for a wide spectrum of invasive cancers. It achieves this by enabling novel drug delivery systems which target the tumour site with several functional molecules, including tumour-specific ligands, antibodies, cytotoxic agents, and imaging probes simultaneously thereby improving tumour response rates in addition to significant reduction of the systemic toxicity associated with current chemotherapy regimens. For this reason, nano-oncology is attracting considerable scientific interest and a growing investment by the global pharmaceutical industry. Several therapeutic nano-carriers have been approved for clinical use and others are undergoing phase II and III clinical trials. This paper describes the current approved formulations, such as liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles, and discusses the overall present status of nano-oncology as an emerging branch of nanomedicine and its future perspectives in cancer and therapy.
ISSN:1687-4110
1687-4129