“9.61x6.69” b2815 Tissue Engineering and Nanotheranostics
Multifunctional Nanomaterials for Cancer Theranostics 229
clinically, which has led to the need to attempt to develop new strate
gies to improve the efficacy of nanoscale treatments through the addi
tion of functional elements. Active targeting enhancements, as well as
contrast agents have been incorporated into the nanomaterials to
create truly multifunctional formulations.38–41
Nanotheranostics combined with therapeutics and diagnostics
into single multifunctional nanoplatform is a promising field which
has been proposed recently.42–48 The theranostic nanomedicine can
realize in vivo circulation, escape host defenses and deliver the drug
and diagnostic agents at the targeted site to diagnose and cure the
disease at cellular and molecular level.^47 By taking advantages of pow
erful theranostic nanomedicines, personalized medicine can be carried
out. The concept of personalized medicine is to attempt to tailor
medical care to an individual’s needs, based on the specific character
istics of each individual patient.^49 Obviously, the nanotheranostics can
provide the diagnostic characteristics of each individual, so as to target
drug or physical therapy, which may aid in reducing the adverse side
effects of treatment and potentially produce better overall results.47,50,^51
In order to achieve the multifunctionality in one nanoformulation,
typically four components are included: nanocarriers, targeting
ligand, imaging domain and therapeutics.
The diagnostic imaging examination and evaluation is essential
before cancer treatment, because imaging can determine the exact
nature, phenotype, and stage of the cancer state, which is related to
the treatment regimen chosen, drug dosage administration, and pre
diction of the response to treatment. This capability allows a thera
nostic nanocompound to act as a guided biomarker that may aid in
maximizing drug delivery efficacy and reducing the guesswork associ
ated with development of cancer treatments. As we know, in order to
achieve the desired diagnostic imaging of tumor, there is a sufficient
dose of contrast agent that needs to accumulate in the tumor tissue.
Luckily, the use of nanomaterials platforms has become rather
advantageous because the nanomaterials have usually a modified sur
face, which can be decorated with contrast molecular. Moreover,
contrast molecular or agent nanoparticles can be directly loaded or
packed into the nanomaterials. Commonly used imaging methods
