부산대학교 도서관

Nanotechnology is an emerging field in medicine that has perspectives to diagnose and treat several ailments. Among the leading cause of mortality, cancer is the major one that requires early diagnosis, intensive care, and treatment for better survival rates. Current imaging techniques and treatment strategies have multiple limitations, such as side effects, and lack of specificity and sensitivity. Hence, new reliable approaches are warranted to counter the limitations of the current treatment methods. Nanomaterial-based diagnostic methods and treatment procedures may enable healthcare professionals to better diagnose and treat cancer. They bear several advantages such as minimal toxicity, biocompatibility, higher stability, improved cellular permeability, more retention time, and accurate targeting ability. However, most research using nanomaterials in cancer therapy is restricted to experimentalmodel animals. Hence, there is a need to extend the applications of nanomaterials in clinical trials. This chapter reviews in detail the prospects of nanomaterials in molecular imaging and targeted therapy of malignant tumors. In addition, challenges for nanomaterial-based therapies will also be discussed.