title: Dendrimer and cancer: a patent review (2006-present).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dendrimers were widely used in cancer diagnosis and therapy during the past decade. The surface functionalities allow bioactive molecules such as imaging probes, therapeutic compounds, targeting ligands to be present on dendrimer surface in a multivalent fashion. In addition, the interior pockets as well as the charged surface of dendrimer can be encapsulated/bound with anti-cancer drugs or therapeutic DNAs/siRNAs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The combination of dendrimer chemistry and new cancer therapy techniques such as radiotherapy, photodynamic therapy, neuron capture therapy, and photothermal therapy provides promising strategies in future cancer therapy. Here, we focused on recent advances on this topic in the patents (2006 - present) and discussed the advantages of dendrimer technology in these inventions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The challenges and perspectives of dendrimer-based theranostics for cancer diagnosis and therapy are discussed. Future efforts in this area should be focused on designing materials to solve problems such as cancer metastasis, multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells, and early-stage cancer diagnosis.
authors: East China Normal University, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences, Shanghai, PR China.
authors: Xiaopan
authors: X
authors: Cai
authors: Jingjing
authors: J
authors: Hu
authors: Jianru
authors: J
authors: Xiao
authors: Yiyun
authors: Y
authors: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D050091:Dendrimers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control; D006801:Humans; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D010330:Patents as Topic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D050091:Dendrimers