title: Echographic imaging of tumoral cells through novel nanosystems for image diagnosis.
abstract: Since the recognition of disease molecular basis, it has become clear that the keystone moments of medical practice, namely early diagnosis, appropriate therapeutic treatment and patient follow-up, must be approached at a molecular level. These objectives will be in the near future more effectively achievable thanks to the impressive developments in nanotechnologies and their applications to the biomedical field, starting-up the nanomedicine era. The continuous advances in the development of biocompatible smart nanomaterials, in particular, will be crucial in several aspects of medicine. In fact, the possibility of manufacturing nanoparticle contrast agents that can be selectively targeted to specific pathological cells has extended molecular imaging applications to non-ionizing techniques and, at the same time, has made reachable the perspective of combining highly accurate diagnoses and personalized therapies in a single theranostic intervention. Main developing applications of nanosized theranostic agents include targeted molecular imaging, controlled drug release, therapeutic monitoring, guidance of radiation-based treatments and surgical interventions. Here we will review the most recent findings in nanoparticles contrast agents and their applications in the field of cancer molecular imaging employing non-ionizing techniques and disease-specific contrast agents, with special focus on recent findings on those nanomaterials particularly promising for ultrasound molecular imaging and simultaneous treatment of cancer.
authors: Marco Di Paola, Fernanda Chiriacò, Giulia Soloperto, Francesco Conversano, Sergio Casciaro, Nanoimaging LAB and Bioengineering Division of the National Research Council, Institute of Clinical Physiology, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Di Paola
authors: Marco Di Paola, Fernanda Chiriacò, Giulia Soloperto, Francesco Conversano, Sergio Casciaro, Nanoimaging LAB and Bioengineering Division of the National Research Council, Institute of Clinical Physiology, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors: Fernanda
authors: F
authors: Chiriacò
authors: Marco Di Paola, Fernanda Chiriacò, Giulia Soloperto, Francesco Conversano, Sergio Casciaro, Nanoimaging LAB and Bioengineering Division of the National Research Council, Institute of Clinical Physiology, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors: Giulia
authors: G
authors: Soloperto
authors: Marco Di Paola, Fernanda Chiriacò, Giulia Soloperto, Francesco Conversano, Sergio Casciaro, Nanoimaging LAB and Bioengineering Division of the National Research Council, Institute of Clinical Physiology, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Conversano
authors: Marco Di Paola, Fernanda Chiriacò, Giulia Soloperto, Francesco Conversano, Sergio Casciaro, Nanoimaging LAB and Bioengineering Division of the National Research Council, Institute of Clinical Physiology, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors: Sergio
authors: S
authors: Casciaro
keywords: Cell targeting; Drug delivery; Early diagnosis; Molecular imaging; Multimodal medical imaging; Nanomedicine; Nanoparticles contrast agents; Theranostics; Ultrasound