Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
in recurrences, in preoperative histological and grade diagnosis, and in pre-
operative treatment planning.
The ability to monitor biodistribution of treatments, migration of cells
throughout the body, and tumor development and evolution in real-time,
can elucidate new pathways that cancer cells rely on. This information will
be invaluable for improvement of therapy. There is a need, therefore, to de-
velop novel approaches for the accurate detection of early-stage of cancer
and for targeted therapies based on the cancer-specific markers, which could
lead to personalized medicine. Considerable effort has been made toward
the research and development of multifunctional nano-particle systems for
cancer targeted imaging and therapy. Theranostic nanomedicine represent
an integrated nanotherapeutic system, which can diagnose, deliver targeted
therapy, and monitor the response to therapy. This integration of diagnostic
imaging capability with therapeutic interventions is critical to addressing
the challenges of brain tumor hetereogeneity and adaptation. As a platform
technology, nanomedicine has the advantage of being able to target multiple
tumor markers and deliver multiple agents simultaneously for synergy in
addressing the challenges of cancer hetereogeneity and adaptative resistance.
Recently many reviews have discussed about characteristics and biomedi-
cal applications on magnetic nanoparticles and reported that it can simulta-
neously act as diagnostic molecular imaging agent and carries different
type of drug at same time [268]. In coming years, we may expect growing
numbers of reports involving novel hybrid structures based upon nucleic
acids, such as siRNAs for the targeted silencing of the major genetic path-
ways associated with brain cancer development and progression [201, 269],
and single strand DNA short aptamers for efficient, inexpensive, and non-
immunogenic alternatives to antibodies.
Although nano-derived applications have great potentials, there are some
concerns about the potential nanoparticles have to cause adverse effects on
human health and the environment. The different properties that make
nanoparticles so promising are at the same time properties that are likely to
have impact on ecosystems and organisms. Nanoparticles are likely to cause
different impacts on human health, occupation health and the environment,
depending on the size, shape and chemical composition of the nanoparticle.
There is therefore great uncertainty about what the actual risks of nano-
particle to human health and the environment are. Nanotechnology is still
a relatively young field, and little is known about the long-term effects of
exposure to nanomaterials, especially in clearance organs such as the liver,
spleen, and kidneys. Furthermore, the potential toxicity associated with
the wide variety of nanomaterials available, ranges from completely inert
to highly toxic, which could slow their advancement into the clinic. There
is a need for further research on more types of nanomaterials to get a basic
understanding on how they interact with the biological system and where
in the body they might go. Additionally, it seems very important to find
