Gold-Decorated Platinum and Palladium Nanoparticles as Modern Nanocomplexes to Improve the Effectiveness of Simulated Anticancer Proton Therapy

Biosynthesis of palladium, platinum, and their bimetallic nanoparticles using rosemary and ginseng herbal plants: evaluation of anticancer activity

In this research, palladium (II) and platinum (II), as well as their bimetallic nanoparticles were synthesized using medicinal plants in an eco-friendly manner. Rosemary and Ginseng extracts were chosen due to their promising anticancer potential. The synthesized nanoparticles underwent characterization through FT-IR spectroscopy, DLS, XRD, EDX, SEM, and TEM techniques. Once the expected structures were confirmed, the performance of these nanoparticles, which exhibited an optimal size, was evaluated as potential anticancer agents through in vitro method on colon cancer cell lines (Ls180, SW480). MTT assay studies showed that the synthesized nanoparticles induced cell death. Moreover, real-time PCR was employed to investigate autophagy markers and the effect of nanoparticles on the apoptosis process, demonstrating a significant effect of the synthesized compounds in this regard.

The role of nanoparticles and nanomaterials in cancer diagnosis and treatment: a comprehensive review

Cancer's pathological processes are complex and present several challenges for current chemotherapy methods. These challenges include cytotoxicity, multidrug resistance, the proliferation of cancer stem cells, and a lack of specificity. To address these issues, researchers have turned to nanomaterials, which possess distinct optical, magnetic, and electrical properties due to their size range of 1-100 nm. Nanomaterials have been engineered to improve cancer treatment by mitigating cytotoxicity, enhancing specificity, increasing drug payload capacity, and improving drug bioavailability. Despite a growing corpus of research on this subject, there has been limited progress in permitting nanodrugs for medical use. The advent of nanotechnology, particularly advances in intelligent nanomaterials, has transformed the field of cancer diagnosis and therapy. Nanoparticles' large surface area allows them to successfully encapsulate a large number of molecules. Nanoparticles can be functionalized with various bio-based substrates like RNA, DNA, aptamers, and antibodies, enhancing their theranostic capabilities. Biologically derived nanomaterials offer economical, easily producible, and less toxic alternatives to conventionally manufactured ones. This review offers a comprehensive overview of cancer theranostics methodologies, focusing on intelligent nanomaterials such as metal, polymeric, and carbon-based nanoparticles. I have also critically discussed their benefits and challenges in cancer therapy and diagnostics. Utilizing intelligent nanomaterials holds promise for advancing cancer theranostics, and improving tumor detection and treatment. Further research should optimize nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery and explore enhanced permeability, cytotoxicity, and retention effects.

Metal nanoparticles as a potential technique for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal cancer: a comprehensive review

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is a major health problem worldwide, and current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are often inadequate. Various metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been widely studied for several biomedical applications, including cancer. They may potentially overcome the challenges associated with conventional chemotherapy and significantly impact the overall survival of GI cancer patients. Functionalized MNPs with targeted ligands provide more efficient localization of tumor energy deposition, better solubility and stability, and specific targeting properties. In addition to enhanced therapeutic efficacy, MNPs are also a diagnostic tool for molecular imaging of malignant lesions, enabling non-invasive imaging or detection of tumor-specific or tumor-associated antigens. MNP-based therapeutic systems enable simultaneous stability and solubility of encapsulated drugs and regulate the delivery of therapeutic agents directly to tumor cells, which improves therapeutic efficacy and minimizes drug toxicity and leakage into normal cells. However, metal nanoparticles have been shown to have a cytotoxic effect on cells in vitro. This can be a concern when using metal nanoparticles for cancer treatment, as they may also kill healthy cells in addition to cancer cells. In this review, we provide an overview of the current state of the field, including preparation methods of MNPs, clinical applications, and advances in their use in targeted GI cancer therapy, as well as the advantages and limitations of using metal nanoparticles for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal cancer such as potential toxicity. We also discuss potential future directions and areas for further research, including the development of novel MNP-based approaches and the optimization of existing approaches.

Nanotechnology in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Traditional cancer diagnosis has been aided by the application of nanoparticles (NPs), which have made the process easier and faster. NPs possess exceptional properties such as a larger surface area, higher volume proportion, and better targeting capabilities. Additionally, their low toxic effect on healthy cells enhances their bioavailability and t-half by allowing them to functionally penetrate the fenestration of epithelium and tissues. These particles have attracted attention in multidisciplinary areas, making them the most promising materials in many biomedical applications, especially in the treatment and diagnosis of various diseases. Today, many drugs are presented or coated with nanoparticles for the direct targeting of tumors or diseased organs without harming normal tissues/cells. Many types of nanoparticles, such as metallic, magnetic, polymeric, metal oxide, quantum dots, graphene, fullerene, liposomes, carbon nanotubes, and dendrimers, have potential applications in cancer treatment and diagnosis. In many studies, nanoparticles have been reported to show intrinsic anticancer activity due to their antioxidant action and cause an inhibitory effect on the growth of tumors. Moreover, nanoparticles can facilitate the controlled release of drugs and increase drug release efficiency with fewer side effects. Nanomaterials such as microbubbles are used as molecular imaging agents for ultrasound imaging. This review discusses the various types of nanoparticles that are commonly used in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Recent Advances in Metal-Based NanoEnhancers for Particle Therapy

Radiotherapy is one of the most common therapeutic regimens for cancer treatment. Over the past decade, proton therapy (PT) has emerged as an advanced type of radiotherapy (RT) that uses proton beams instead of conventional photon RT. Both PT and carbon-ion beam therapy (CIBT) exhibit excellent therapeutic results because of the physical characteristics of the resulting Bragg peaks, which has been exploited for cancer treatment in medical centers worldwide. Although particle therapies show significant advantages to photon RT by minimizing the radiation damage to normal tissue after the tumors, they still cause damage to normal tissue before the tumor. Since the physical mechanisms are different from particle therapy and photon RT, efforts have been made to ameliorate these effects by combining nanomaterials and particle therapies to improve tumor targeting by concentrating the radiation effects. Metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) exhibit many unique properties, such as strong X-ray absorption cross-sections and catalytic activity, and they are considered nano-radioenhancers (NREs) for RT. In this review, we systematically summarize the putative mechanisms involved in NRE-induced radioenhancement in particle therapy and the experimental results in in vitro and in vivo models. We also discuss the potential of translating preclinical metal-based NP-enhanced particle therapy studies into clinical practice using examples of several metal-based NREs, such as SPION, Abraxane, AGuIX, and NBTXR3. Furthermore, the future challenges and development of NREs for PT are presented for clinical translation. Finally, we propose a roadmap to pursue future studies to strengthen the interplay of particle therapy and nanomedicine.

Bimetallic Nanomaterials: A Promising Nanoplatform for Multimodal Cancer Therapy

Bimetallic nanomaterials (BMNs) composed of two different metal elements have certain mixing patterns and geometric structures, and they often have superior properties than monometallic nanomaterials. Bimetallic-based nanomaterials have been widely investigated and extensively used in many biomedical fields especially cancer therapy because of their unique morphology and structure, special physicochemical properties, excellent biocompatibility, and synergistic effect. However, most reviews focused on the application of BMNs in cancer diagnoses (sensing, and imaging) and rarely mentioned the application of the treatment of cancer. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive perspective on the recent progress of BNMs as therapeutic agents. We first introduce and discuss the synthesis methods, intrinsic properties (size, morphology, and structure), and optical and catalytic properties relevant to cancer therapy. Then, we highlight the application of BMNs in cancer therapy (e.g., drug/gene delivery, radiotherapy, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, enzyme-mediated tumor therapy, and multifunctional synergistic therapy). Finally, we put forward insights for the forthcoming in order to make more comprehensive use of BMNs and improve the medical system of cancer treatment.

Improving the Effect of Cancer Cells Irradiation with X-rays and High-Energy Protons Using Bimetallic Palladium-Platinum Nanoparticles with Various Nanostructures

Nano-sized radiosensitizers can be used to increase the effectiveness of radiation-based anticancer therapies. In this study, bimetallic, ~30 nm palladium-platinum nanoparticles (PdPt NPs) with different nanostructures (random nano-alloy NPs and ordered core-shell NPs) were prepared. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), zeta potential measurements, and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) were used to provide the physicochemical characteristics of PdPt NPs. Then, PdPt NPs were added to the cultures of colon cancer cells and normal colon epithelium cells in individually established non-toxic concentrations and irradiated with the non-harmful dose of X-rays/protons. Cell viability before and after PdPt NPs-(non) assisted X-ray/proton irradiation was evaluated by MTS (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) assay. Flow cytometry was used to assess cell apoptosis. The results showed that PdPt NPs significantly enhanced the effect of irradiation on cancer cells. It was noticed that nano-alloy PdPt NPs possess better radiosensitizing properties compared to PtPd core-shell NPs, and the combined effect against cancer cells was c.a. 10% stronger for X-ray than for proton irradiation. Thus, the radio-enhancing features of differently structured PdPt NPs indicate their potential application for the improvement of the effectiveness of radiation-based anticancer therapies.

Therapeutic Advancements in Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticle-Based Radiosensitization for Head and Neck Cancer Therapy

Although radiation therapy (RT) is one of the mainstays of head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment, innovative approaches are needed to further improve treatment outcomes. A significant challenge has been to design delivery strategies that focus high doses of radiation on the tumor tissue while minimizing damage to surrounding structures. In the last decade, there has been increasing interest in harnessing high atomic number materials (Z-elements) as nanoparticle radiosensitizers that can also be specifically directed to the tumor bed. Metallic nanoparticles typically display chemical inertness in cellular and subcellular systems but serve as significant radioenhancers for synergistic tumor cell killing in the presence of ionizing radiation. In this review, we discuss the current research and therapeutic efficacy of metal nanoparticle (MNP)-based radiosensitizers, specifically in the treatment of HNC with an emphasis on gold- (AuNPs), gadolinium- (AGdIX), and silver- (Ag) based nanoparticles together with the metallic oxide-based hafnium (Hf), zinc (ZnO) and iron (SPION) nanoparticles. Both in vitro and in vivo systems for different ionizing radiations including photons and protons were reviewed. Finally, the current status of preclinical and clinical studies using MNP-enhanced radiation therapy is discussed.