Energy‐Converting Nanomedicine

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Vol. 15; no. 13; pp. e1805339 - n/a
• Main Authors: Xiang, Huijing, Chen, Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2019
• Subjects: biosafety issues; Cancer; Cavitation; Chemotherapy; clinical translation; Compton effect; Elastic scattering; Electric fields; Energy; Energy conversion; energy‐converting; external stimuli; Magnetic fields; Nanomaterials; nanomedicine; Nanotechnology; Penetration depth; Photoelectric effect; Photoelectricity; Radio frequency; Side effects; Temperature effects; Ultrasonic imaging; external stimuli; nanomedicine; biosafety issues; clinical translation; energy-converting
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.201805339

Serious side effects to surrounding normal tissues and unsatisfactory therapeutic efficacy hamper the further clinic applications of conventional cancer‐therapeutic strategies, such as chemotherapy and surgery. The fast development of nanotechnology provides unprecedented superiorities for cancer therapeutics. Externally activatable therapeutic modalities mediated by nanomaterials, relying on highly effective energy transformation to release therapeutic elements/effects (cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, thermal effect, photoelectric effect, Compton effect, cavitation effect, mechanical effect or chemotherapeutic drug) for cancer therapies, categorized and termed as “energy‐converting nanomedicine,” have arouse considerable concern due to their noninvasiveness, desirable tissue‐penetration depth, and accurate modulation of therapeutic dose. This review summarizes the recent advances in the engineering of intelligent functional nanotherapeutics for energy‐converting nanomedicine, including photo‐based, radiation‐based, ultrasound‐based, magnetic field‐based, microwave‐based, electric field‐based, and radiofrequency‐based nanomedicines, which are enabled by external stimuli (light, radiation, ultrasound, magnetic field, microwave, electric field, and radiofrequency). Furthermore, biosafety issues of energy‐converting nanomedicine related to future clinical translation are also addressed. Finally, the potential challenges and prospects of energy‐converting nanomedicine for future clinical translation are discussed. This comprehensive review summarizes the recent advances in engineering versatile nanotherapeutics for energy‐converting nanomedicine enabled by external energy input, including photo‐based, radiation‐based, ultrasound‐based, magnetic field‐based, microwave‐based, electric field‐based, and radiofrequency‐based nanomedicines.