title: Nucleic acid aptamer-guided cancer therapeutics and diagnostics: the next generation of cancer medicine.
abstract: Conventional anticancer therapies, such as chemo- and/or radio-therapy are often unable to completely eradicate cancers due to abnormal tumor microenvironment, as well as increased drug/radiation resistance. More effective therapeutic strategies for overcoming these obstacles are urgently in demand. Aptamers, as chemical antibodies that bind to targets with high affinity and specificity, are a promising new and novel agent for both cancer diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Aptamer-based cancer cell targeting facilitates the development of active targeting in which aptamer-mediated drug delivery could provide promising anticancer outcomes. This review is to update the current progress of aptamer-based cancer diagnosis and aptamer-mediated active targeting for cancer therapy in vivo, exploring the potential of this novel form of targeted cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: 1. School of Medicine, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Dongxi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: 1. School of Medicine, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shigdar
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: 1. School of Medicine, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 3. School of Engineering, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Abbas Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Kouzani
authors.affiliation: 4. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
authors.forename: Shu-Feng
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: 5. Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Lingxue
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: 6. Cancer Care Centre, St George Hospital and St George Clinical School, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Kensington, NSW2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 7. The Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, 6 Jiefang Road, Dalian, Liaoning, The People's Republic of China, 116001.
authors.forename: Chunwen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.affiliation: 1. School of Medicine, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Duan
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000639:trends; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide
keywords: active targeting; aptamer; cancer stem cell; cancer theranostic; cancer therapy; chemoresistance