Freitas Sara C, Sanderson Daniel, Caspani Sofia, Magalhães Ricardo, Cortés-Llanos Belén, Granja Andreia, Reis Salette, Belo João Horta, Azevedo José, Gómez-Gaviro Maria Victoria, Sousa Célia Tavares de
IFIMUP-Institute of Physics for Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology and Photonics of University of Porto, LaPMET-Laboratory of Physics for Materials and Emergent Technologies, Departamento de Física e Astronomia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM), Doctor Esquerdo 46, 28007 Madrid, Spain.
Cancers (Basel). 2023 Jan 6;15(2):383. doi: 10.3390/cancers15020383.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide. Despite recent advances in the treatment of this pathology, which include a personalized approach using radio- and chemotherapies in combination with advanced surgical techniques, it is imperative to enhance the performance of these treatments and decrease their detrimental side effects on patients' health. Nanomedicine is likely the pathway towards solving this challenge by enhancing both the therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities. In particular, plasmonic nanoparticles show remarkable potential due to their dual therapeutic functionalities as photothermal therapy agents and as radiosensitizers in radiotherapy. Their dual functionality, high biocompatibility, easy functionalization, and targeting capabilities make them potential agents for inducing efficient cancer cell death with minimal side effects. This review aims to identify the main challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. The heterogeneous nature of this cancer is also discussed from a single-cell point of view. The most relevant works in photo- and radiotherapy using nanotechnology-based therapies for colorectal cancer are addressed, ranging from in vitro studies (2D and 3D cell cultures) to in vivo studies and clinical trials. Although the results using nanoparticles as a photo- and radiosensitizers in photo- and radiotherapy are promising, preliminary studies showed that the possibility of combining both therapies must be explored to improve the treatment efficiency.
结直肠癌是全球第三大常见癌症。尽管近年来在这种疾病的治疗方面取得了进展，包括采用放疗和化疗相结合的个性化方法以及先进的手术技术，但提高这些治疗方法的效果并减少其对患者健康的有害副作用仍然至关重要。纳米医学可能是通过增强治疗和诊断能力来应对这一挑战的途径。特别是，等离子体纳米颗粒因其作为光热治疗剂和放射治疗中的放射增敏剂的双重治疗功能而显示出显著的潜力。它们的双重功能、高生物相容性、易于功能化和靶向能力使其成为以最小副作用诱导癌细胞有效死亡的潜在药物。本综述旨在确定结直肠癌诊断和治疗中的主要挑战。还从单细胞角度讨论了这种癌症的异质性。阐述了使用基于纳米技术的疗法进行结直肠癌光疗和放疗的最相关研究工作，范围从体外研究（二维和三维细胞培养）到体内研究和临床试验。尽管在光疗和放疗中使用纳米颗粒作为光增敏剂和放射增敏剂的结果很有前景，但初步研究表明，必须探索将这两种疗法结合的可能性，以提高治疗效率。
