The use of nanoparticles (NP) in diagnosis and treatment of many human diseases, including cancer, is of increasing interest. However, cytotoxic effects of NPs on cells and the uptake efficiency significantly limit their use in clinical practice. The physico-chemical properties of NPs including surface composition, superficial charge, size and shape are considered the key factors that affect the biocompatibility and uptake efficiency of these nanoplatforms. Thanks to the possibility of modifying physico-chemical properties of NPs, it is possible to improve their biocompatibility and uptake efficiency through the functionalization of the NP surface. In this review, we summarize some of the most recent studies in which NP surface modification enhances biocompatibility and uptake. Furthermore, the most used techniques used to assess biocompatibility and uptake are also reported.

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Nanoparticle Surface Functionalization: How to Improve Biocompatibility and Cellular Internalization.

Monoclonal antibodies targeting programmed cell death 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) immune checkpoints have improved the treatments of cancers. However, not all patients equally benefit from immunotherapy. The use of cytotoxic drugs is practically inevitable to treat advanced cancers and metastases. The repertoire of cytotoxics includes 80 products that principally target nucleic acids or the microtubule network in rapidly proliferating tumor cells. Paradoxically, many of these compounds tend to become essential to promote the activity of immunotherapy and to offer a sustained therapeutic effect. We have analyzed each cytotoxic drug with respect to effect on expression and function of PD-(L)1. The major cytotoxic drugs—carboplatin, cisplatin, cytarabine, dacarbazine, docetaxel, doxorubicin, ecteinascidin, etoposide, fluorouracil, gemcitabine, irinotecan, oxaliplatin, paclitaxel and pemetrexed—all have the capacity to upregulate PD-L1 expression on cancer cells (via the generation of danger signals) and to promote antitumor immunogenicity, via activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, maturation of antigen-presenting cells, depletion of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells and/or expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells. The use of ‘immunocompatible’ cytotoxic drugs combined with anti-PD-(L)1 antibodies is a modern approach, not only for increasing the direct killing of cancer cells, but also as a strategy to minimize the activation of immunosuppressive and cancer cell prosurvival program responses.

Combined cytotoxic chemotherapy and immunotherapy of cancer: modern times

Due to their lower systemic toxicity, faster kidney clearance and higher tumor accumulation, ultrasmall gold nanoparticles (less than 10 nm in diameter) have been proved to be promising in biomedical applications. However, their potential applications in cancer imaging and treatment have not been reviewed yet. This review summarizes the efforts to develop systems based on ultrasmall gold nanoparticles for use in cancer diagnosis and therapy. First, we describe the methods for controlling the size and surface functionalization of ultrasmall gold nanoparticles. Second, we review the research on ultrasmall gold nanoparticles in cancer imaging and treatment. Specifically, we focus on the applications of ultrasmall gold nanoparticles in tumor visualization and bioimaging in different fields such as magnetic resonance imaging, photoacoustic imaging, fluorescence imaging, and X-ray scatter imaging. We also highlight the applications of ultrasmall gold nanoparticles in tumor chemotherapy, radiotherapy, photodynamic therapy and gene therapy.

Ultrasmall gold nanoparticles in cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Synergic effects of nanoparticles-mediated hyperthermia in radiotherapy/chemotherapy of cancer.

Herceptin-conjugated paclitaxel loaded PCL-PEG worm-like nanocrystal micelles for the combinatorial treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The prognosis and overall survival of CRC are known to be significantly correlated with the overexpression of P...

Sooyeon Lee

Papers

Doxorubicin and Anti-PD-L1 Antibody Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles for Colorectal Cancer Photochemotherapy.