Editor: Yusuf Tutar

Advances in Cancer Nanotheranostics for Experimental and Personalized Medicine

eBook: US $69 Special Offer (PDF + Printed Copy): US $126
Printed Copy: US $91
Library License: US $276
ISBN: 978-981-14-5689-3 (Print)
ISBN: 978-981-14-5691-6 (Online)
Year of Publication: 2020
DOI: 10.2174/97898114569161200101

Introduction

Nanotheranostics is a recent medical field which integrates diagnostic imaging protocols and therapeutic functions to monitor real time drug release in the body and distribution to the target site. The combined processes allow technicians to observe the effectiveness of a specifically designed drug candidate and predict its possible side effects. All these features help clinicians in optimizing treatment options for cancer and other diseases for the individual patient. Current research is tailored to individual therapy because each drug may display a variety of responses depending on variations in an individual’s genetics and subsequently, their clinical biochemistry. Many tumors are still challenging for therapists in terms of available treatment and nanotheranostic strategies may help them to combat cancer more efficiently.

Advances in Cancer Nanotheranostics for Experimental and Personalized Medicine presents information about current theranostic technologies in use at clinics and recent research on nanotheranostic applications, with a focus on cancer treatment. Information is presented in seven organized chapters that cover the basics of cancer nanotheranostics, tumor microenvironmental factors, gene therapy and gene delivery concepts, and the combined application of diagnostic imaging with cancer chemotherapy. A chapter focusing on the role of non-coding MRNAs in breast cancer carcinogenesis is also included, giving readers a glimpse of the complexities in the molecular biology of cancer which drive the need for new theranostic technologies. The book is of interest to medical professionals (including oncologists and specialists in internal medicine), diagnostic imaging technicians, and researchers in the fields of pharmacology, molecular biology and nuclear medicine.

Foreword

Oncologic drug development focused on single target-single drug strategy for several years. However, cancer cells are genius! They can bypass inhibitor perturbations by using alternative routes. Further, human genome project results indicated that four letter-alphabet is not as simple as central dogma; only few percent of the gene sequences are transcribed and translated. Rest of the genome function is involved in uncharacterized biochemical pathways and cell biology. And epigenetics and metabolites add more complexity to the understanding of molecular mechanisms in detail. This unknown mechanism makes cancer cell genius!!! But a great endeavor of eminent scientists and continuous research to elucidate pathways both in cellular and tissue levels make drug design more effective every day.

To control the effect of several cellular factors, the new trend in contemporary drug design is to employ drug cocktail that will synergistically act on these factors and proper oncologic drug targeting to eliminate off-targeting. For this purpose, nanocarriers have been designed to deliver drugs to tumor microenvironment not only to treat the tumor but prevent its metastasis.

Biomimicking is an old fashioned yet excellent method in disease treatment. Macrophages target cancer cells and using this biomimick bullet macromolecule with oncologic drug cargo serves as a fine treatment strategy. The biomimick bullet cargo can be a wide range of molecules from small to large molecules.

Targeting with nanotheranostic carriers provides specific delivery to cancer microenvironment. However, cancer cells so called “the other strategies” yet to be elucidated. For example, transformation of a healthy cell to cancer cell may enhance inner and surface signaling molecules and may introduce new set of metabolites. Further, some of the non-coding gene’s expression increases during this transformation. Altogether, cellular and tissue level characterization of oncologic pathways may help our understanding of tumor biology. Currently, cancer nanotheranostics tries to find a short cut for experimental and personalized medicine in cancer treatment. This book covers recent advances in this field.

Prof. Lütfi TUTAR
Ahi Evran University
Turkey

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