Advancing Cancer Therapy with Quantum Dots and Other Nanostructures: A Review of Drug Delivery Innovations, Applications, and Challenges

Nanotechnology, particularly quantum dots (QDs), has ushered in a transformative era in the pharmaceutical and medical industries, offering notable opportunities for nanoscale advancements. These nanoscale particles, known for their exceptional optical properties and quantum confinement, have emerged as indispensable tools in cancer drug delivery and bioimaging. This review delves into various drug conjugation techniques with QDs, including covalent linking, non-covalent conjugation, click chemistry, disulfide linkage, and pH-sensitive linkage. Each method provides distinct advantages, such as enhanced stability, reversibility, specificity, and controlled drug release. Moreover, QDs have demonstrated significant promise in oncology by efficiently delivering drugs to cancerous tissues while minimising systemic toxicity. Investigations into their applications in different cancers, such as blood, brain, cervical, breast cancers, etc., reveal their efficacy in targeted drug delivery, real-time imaging, and improved therapeutic outcomes. However, challenges such as potential toxicity, stability, pharmacokinetics, and targeting specificity must be addressed to fully harness the benefits of QDs in cancer therapy. Future research should focus on developing biocompatible QDs, optimising conjugation techniques, and elucidating their safety profiles and long-term effects in biological systems. Overall, QDs represent a promising frontier in cancer treatment, offering multifaceted capabilities that hold the potential for enhanced therapeutic outcomes and reduced side effects across various cancers.