A STRATEGIC REVIEW ON METAL NANOPARTICLES AND ITS THERANOSTICS APPLICATIONS

In the last decade nanotechnology have greatly developed in many research fields such as engineering, electronic, biological and many others. Of which, the majority of its applications are carried out in the medical field, and is constantly looking for new and improved treatments for diseases, which has to be highly efficient and cost-effective. Cancer remains as one of the most deadly diseases worldwide, and the existing anticancer therapies come with several drawbacks. Therefore, there is a need to develop new anticancer strategies. Theranostics is a strategy that is a combination of treatment with diagnosis and monitoring. One important aspect of any treatment is the ability to be able to target only the illness and not cause any harm to another healthy part of the body. For this reason, metal nanoparticles are proposed as one of the most promising theranostic agents for the treatment of cancer. Thus, metallic nanoparticles including iron (Fe), gold (Au), silver (Ag), zinc (Zn), and titanium (Ti), have potential as anticancer agents, either inherently or as a result of surface modifications. As a functional component of theranostic tools, metal nanoparticles have crucial dual roles as a diagnostic and active therapeutic agent for the treatment of cancer. Here we give a brief literature review on various metallic nanoparticles and how they help in diagnosing and the treatment of cancer.