Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles: a useful tool in the early diagnosis and therapy of tumours

Claudio SANGREGORIO, CNR-ICCOM - INSTM

In the last decades magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) have demonstrated a great potential for biomedical applications, the interest extending onto many areas, including contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), drug targeting, diagnostics, molecular biology, cell separation and purification, and hyperthermia therapy. These materials are indeed excellent candidates for the realization of a new class of theranostic agents, which offer the great advantage of combining the therapeutic effect of targeted drug-delivery with hyperthermia and enhanced relaxometric properties, thus allowing for tracking the path and the deposition of the NPs inside human body and tumour cells by MRI. Such innovative and multi-fold anticancer materials can be realized through the proper functionalization of the magnetic core with a biocompatible shell, which can include one or more biologically active molecules, like drugs, antibodies or small peptides.

In this contribution we will review the state-of-the-art of the application of this class of materials and discuss the future perspectives for a more extended use in the early diagnosis and therapy of tumours.  

 
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