Anti-cancer precision theranostics: a focus on multifunctional gold nanoparticles

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles have been appointed as cutting-edge platforms for combined diagnostic and therapeutic approaches due to their exquisite physicochemical and optical properties. In particular, their potential benefits in cancer settings are enormous, as they can serve as targeted vehicles for controlled drug release, photothermal therapy and gene therapy, as well as contrast imaging agents to allow for real-time monitoring of both disease and therapeutic progression. These theranostic platforms represent powerful image-guided therapeutics, tailored to maximize individual patient benefit and with the ability to significantly minimize toxic side effects. Here the authors review some of the recent advances on the development of gold nanoparticle conjugates for combined diagnostics and therapy, while reflecting on the obstacles toward translational research.

Keywords::

• cancer
• cancer therapy
• gold nanoparticle
• molecular diagnostics
• nanotheranostics

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors disclose financial support from the National Science Foundation (Portugal): PTDC/BBB-NAN/1812/2012, CIGMH (PEst-OE/SAU/UI0009/2011-14) and SFRH/BPD/80627/2011. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) properties for diagnostics and therapeutics.

• Nanotheranostics options based on AuNPs.

• Drug delivery on AuNPs has been proposed due to the high surface-to-volume ratio enabling high loading of functional moieties.

• Targeted delivery of molecules to cancer cells via nanovectorization is a key aspect of precision cancer therapy that is attained via multifunctionalization of gold surface with biomolecules, for example, sugars, antibodies, peptides, etc.

• AuNPs for photodynamic therapy.

• AuNPs as new contrast/imaging agents.

• Hyperthermia via AuNPs has been proposed and is now moving from bench to the clinics. The increased sensitivity of cancer cells to temperature is used to selectively target malignant cells via directed radiation (e.g., NIR) that can be focused to the desired localization.

• Coupling standard drugs with nanoparticles for efficient drug delivery is one of the key advantages of AuNPs since the surface can be functionalized with any desired molecule and these nanoconjugates may be encapsulated into polymeric nanoparticles together with conventional drugs to enhance efficacy.

• Real-time monitoring of therapeutics is the aim of nanotheranostics. AuNPs are paving the way for this dual modality of targeted delivery of a drug while biodistribution and effective localization and diagnostics data are acquired due to the spectral properties.