title: Recent Advances on Inorganic Nanoparticle-Based Cancer Therapeutic Agents.
abstract: Inorganic nanoparticles have been widely investigated as therapeutic agents for cancer treatments in biomedical fields due to their unique physical/chemical properties, versatile synthetic strategies, easy surface functionalization and excellent biocompatibility. This review focuses on the discussion of several types of inorganic nanoparticle-based cancer therapeutic agents, including gold nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, upconversion nanoparticles and mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Several cancer therapy techniques are briefly introduced at the beginning. Emphasis is placed on how these inorganic nanoparticles can provide enhanced therapeutic efficacy in cancer treatment through site-specific accumulation, targeted drug delivery and stimulated drug release, with elaborations on several examples to highlight the respective strategies adopted. Finally, a brief summary and future challenges are included.
authors.affiliation: School of Laboratory Medicine and Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. wangfenglin_1208@163.com.
authors.forename: Fenglin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Laboratory Medicine and Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. chengyaoli@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Chengyao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hunan Key Laboratory of Food Safety Science & Technology, Technology Center of Hunan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Hunan Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, Changsha 410004, China. chengjing4323@163.com.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China. yuanzq@mail.buct.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhiqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D006046:Gold; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: cancer therapeutic agents; gold nanoparticles; magnetic nanoparticles; mesoporous silica nanoparticles; upconversion nanoparticles