Emerging implications of nanotechnology on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics

Nanotechnology is multidisciplinary field that involves the design and engineering of objects <500 nanometers (nm) in size. The National Cancer Institute has recognized that nanotechnology offers an extraordinary, paradigm-changing opportunity to make significant advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment. In the last several decades, nanotechnology has been studied and developed primarily for use in novel drug-delivery systems (e.g. liposomes, gelatin nanoparticles, micelles). A recent explosion in engineering and technology has led to 1) the development of many new nanoscale platforms, including quantum dots, nanoshells, gold nanoparticles, paramagnetic nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes, and 2) improvements in traditional, lipid-based nanoscale platforms. The emerging implications of these platforms for advances in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics form the basis of this review. A widespread understanding of these new technologies is important, because they currently are being integrated into the clinical practice of oncology.