42^nd World Cancer Conference

Cancer Nanomedicine

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Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. Nanomedicine ranges from the medical applications of nanomaterials, to nanoelectronic biosensors, and even possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology. Nanoparticles are one useful tool against cancer because, when “nano”-engineered with a specific coating, they bind particularly well to the tumors. Their magnetic properties make them suitable imaging agents with MRI-scans while their size and concentration in the tumor allow a very high resolution and an accurate mapping of lesions. Surgeons can thus rely on this to select properly patients and plan the surgical removal of the tumor. In therapy, nanotechnology is at the forefront of both targeted drug delivery and intrinsic therapies. For instance, nanoparticles can already be injected into the tumor and then be activated to produce heat and destroy cancer cells locally either by magnetic fields, X-Rays or light. Meanwhile the encapsulation of existing chemotherapy drugs or genes allows much more localized delivery both reducing significantly the quantity of drugs absorbed by the patient for equal impact and the side effects on healthy tissues in the body. Coupling both modes of action has also been achieved with gold nanorods carrying chemotherapy drugs and locally excited in the tumor by infrared light. The induced heat both releases the encapsulated drug and helps destroying the cancer cells, resulting in a combined effect of enhanced delivery and intrinsic therapy.