Recent insights into nanotechnology development for detection and treatment of colorectal cancer

Abstract

The global incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is 1.3 million cases. It is the third most frequent cancer in males and females. Most CRCs are adenocarcinomas and often begin as a polyp on the inner wall of the rectum or colon. Some of these polyps become malignant, eventually. Detecting and removing these polyps in time can prevent CRC. Therefore, early diagnosis of CRC is advantageous for preventive and instant action interventions to decrease the mortality rates. Nanotechnology has been enhancing different methods for the detection and treatment of CRCs, and the research has provided hope within the scientific community for the development of new therapeutic strategies. This review presents the recent development of nanotechnology for the detection and treatment of CRC.

Keywords:

• colorectal cancer
• nanotechnology
• detection
• treatment
• targeted therapy

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the R&D Program for Society of the National Research Foundation funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2013M3C8A3078806 and 2015M3A9E2031372).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.