June 14, 2014

Biomarker and microenvironmental strategies for delivering particles to tumors



Understanding a variety of biochemical features and biological processes might enable the design of plasmonic particles that home in on tumors for imaging and therapy.

The use of noble metal particles to stain tumors and achieve optical contrast for biomedical applications has taken on a clinical dimension, with applications that include optical hyperthermia to ablate cells and photoacoustic imaging of cancer. Obtaining plasmonic bands in the near-IR window to penetrate deeply into biological tissue is now possible by tailoring the shape and size of the particles used.3 As an example, gold nanorods exhibit excellent optical absorbance and stability4 and have a surface that can be modified with functional moieties that alter their biological profiles.