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Cancer remains a major global health challenge, with traditional therapies such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery often limited by side effects, drug resistance, and incomplete tumor eradication. Recent advances in molecular biology have highlighted the dual role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in cancer, acting both as oncogenes and tumor suppressors, thereby offering new avenues for targeted therapy. Due to their unique physicochemical properties, including excellent biocompatibility, surface functionalization capabilities, and photothermal effects, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) have emerged as a promising platform for miRNA delivery. However, a systematic understanding of how to effectively design Au NPs-miRNA systems for integrated tumor diagnosis and therapy, and their synergistic effects with photothermal therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy to enhance therapeutic efficacy, remains lacking. In this review, we comprehensively summarized the advantages and challenges of the current Au NPs-miRNA system and discussed its recent advances in tumor diagnosis and therapy. This review provides a comprehensive overview of engineered gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), emphasizing their immense potential as effective tools for the precise delivery and regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) in cancer therapy, aiming to improve therapeutic outcomes by targeting specific molecular pathways involved in tumor progression. • miRNAs serve as both oncogenes and tumor suppressors, making them promising targets for cancer therapy. • Engineered gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) efficiently deliver miRNAs, overcoming challenges like instability and low bioavailability. • The Au NP–miRNA platform facilitates integrated cancer diagnosis and therapy by combining gene regulation with imaging-guided photothermal therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.
Chen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.