The intrinsic limits of conventional cancer therapies prompted the development and application of various nanotechnologies for more effective and safer cancer treatment, herein referred to as cancer nanomedicine. Considerable technological success has been achieved in this field, but the main obstacles to nanomedicine becoming a new paradigm in cancer therapy stem from the complexities and heterogeneity of tumour biology, an incomplete understanding of nano-bio interactions and the challenges regarding chemistry, manufacturing and controls required for clinical translation and commercialization. This Review highlights the progress, challenges and opportunities in cancer nanomedicine and discusses novel engineering approaches that capitalize on our growing understanding of tumour biology and nano-bio interactions to develop more effective nanotherapeutics for cancer patients.

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Cancer nanomedicine: progress, challenges and opportunities.

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/29293165/Cancer%20Nanotechnology.pdf?sequence=1

Cancer Nanotechnology: The impact of passive and active targeting in the era of modern cancer biology

Functional Nanomaterials for Phototherapies of Cancer

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Degradable Controlled-Release Polymers and Polymeric Nanoparticles: Mechanisms of Controlling Drug Release

In recent years, zwitterionic materials such as poly(carboxybetaine) (pCB) and poly(sulfobetaine) (pSB) have been applied to a broad range of biomedical and engineering materials. Due to electrostatically induced hydration, surfaces coated with zwitterionic groups are highly resistant to nonspecific protein adsorption, bacterial adhesion, and biofilm formation. Among zwitterionic materials, pCB is unique due to its abundant functional groups for the convenient immobilization of biomolecules. pCB can also be prepared in a hydrolyzable form as cationic pCB esters, which can kill bacteria or condense DNA. The hydrolysis of cationic pCB esters into nonfouling zwitterionic groups will lead to the release of killed microbes or the irreversible unpackaging of DNA. Furthermore, mixed-charge materials have been shown to be equivalent to zwitterionic materials in resisting nonspecific protein adsorption when they are uniformly mixed at the molecular scale.

Ultralow-Fouling, Functionalizable, and Hydrolyzable Zwitterionic Materials and Their Derivatives for Biological Applications

Nanomaterials offer new opportunities for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Multifunctional nanoparticles harboring various functions including targeting, imaging, therapy, and etc have been intensively studied aiming to overcome limitations associated with conventional cancer diagnosis and therapy. Of various nanoparticles, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with superparamagnetic property have shown potential as multifunctional nanoparticles for clinical translation because they have been used asmagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) constrast agents in clinic and their features could be easily tailored by including targeting moieties, fluorescence dyes, or therapeutic agents. This review summarizes targeting strategies for construction of multifunctional nanoparticles including magnetic nanoparticles-based theranostic systems, and the various surface engineering strategies of nanoparticles for in vivo applications.

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Targeting Strategies for Multifunctional Nanoparticles in Cancer Imaging and Therapy

Drug-loaded superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for combined cancer imaging and therapy in vivo.

We report the fabrication and characterization of thermally cross-linked superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (TCL-SPION) and their application to the dual imaging of cancer in vivo. Unlike dextran-coated cross-linked iron oxide nanoparticles, which are prepared by a chemical cross-linking method, TCL-SPION are prepared by a simple, thermal cross-linking method using a Si−OH-containing copolymer. The copolymer, poly(3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate-r-PEG methyl ether methacrylate-r-N-acryloxysuccinimide), was synthesized by radical polymerization and used as a coating material for as-synthesized magnetite (Fe3O4) SPION. The polymer-coated SPION was further heated at 80 °C to induce cross-linking between the −Si(OH)3 groups in the polymer chains, which finally generated TCL-SPION bearing a carboxyl group as a surface functional group. The particle size, surface charge, presence of polymer-coating layers, and the extent of thermal cross-linking were characterized and confirmed by various measure...

Thermally cross-linked superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: synthesis and application as a dual imaging probe for cancer in vivo.

Nanotechnology for protein delivery: Overview and perspectives.

RNA interference (RNAi) gene silencing technologies have shown significant potential for treating various diseases, including cancer. However, clinical success in cancer therapy remains elusive, mainly owing to suboptimal in vivo delivery of RNAi therapeutics such as small interference RNA (siRNA) to tumors. Herein, we developed a library of polymers that respond to a narrow pH change (ultra-pH-responsive), and demonstrated the utility of these materials in targeted and deep tumor-penetrating nanoparticle (NP) for in vivo RNAi. The new NP platform is mainly composed of the following key components: i) internalizing RGD (iRGD) to enhance tumor targeting and tissue penetration; ii) polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains to prolong blood circulation; and iii) sharp pH-responsive hydrophobic polymer to improve endosome escape. Through systematic studies of structure-function relationship, the optimized RNAi NPs (<70 nm) showed efficient gene silencing and significant inhibition of tumor growth with negligible toxicities in vivo.

Mi Kyung Yu

Papers

Targeting Strategies for Multifunctional Nanoparticles in Cancer Imaging and Therapy

Drug-loaded superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for combined cancer imaging and therapy in vivo.

Thermally cross-linked superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: synthesis and application as a dual imaging probe for cancer in vivo.

Nanotechnology for protein delivery: Overview and perspectives.

Ultra-pH-Responsive and Tumor-Penetrating Nanoplatform for Targeted siRNA Delivery with Robust Anti-Cancer Efficacy.