Recent Advances in the Use of Metallic Nanoparticles with Antitumoral Action - Review

• Published in: Current medicinal chemistry Vol. 26; no. 12; p. 2108
• Main Authors: da Silva, Patricia Bento, Machado, Rachel Temperani Amaral, Pironi, Andressa Maria, Alves, Renata Carolina, de Araújo, Patricia Rocha, Dragalzew, Amanda Cutrim, Dalberto, Ingrid, Chorilli, Marlus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Arab Emirates 01-01-2019
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Apoptosis - drug effects; Ferric Compounds - chemistry; Gold - chemistry; Humans; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Metal Nanoparticles - therapeutic use; Metal Nanoparticles - toxicity; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Silver - chemistry; Titanium - chemistry; gold; Metallic nanoparticles; antitumor activity; titanium; nanotechnology; copper; iron; silver
• ISSN: 1875-533X
• DOI: 10.2174/0929867325666180214102918

The term cancer represents a set of more than 100 diseases that are caused due to an uncontrolled growth of cells; and their subsequent spread to the other tissues and organs of the body by a phenomenon, called 'metastasis'. According to the estimates provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is expected to account for about 10 million deaths per year by 2020 and 21 million cancer cases, which may lead to 13 million deaths by 2030, making cancer as the cause of highest mortality in contrast to other diseases. The search for potential therapeutics against cancer, which can reduce the side-effects that occur due to the difficulty of recognition between cancerous and normal cells, has ever been increased. In this view, nanotechnology, especially metallic nanoparticles (MNPs), comes to aid in the development of novel therapeutic agents, which may be synthesized or modified with the most diverse functional chemical groups; this property makes the metallic nanoparticles suitable for conjugation with already known drugs or prospective drug candidates. The biocompatibility, relatively simple synthesis, size flexibility and easy chemical modification of its surface, all make the metallic nanoparticles highly advantageous for opportune diagnosis and therapy of cancer. The present article analyzes and reports the anti-tumor activities of 78 papers of various metallic nanoparticles, particularly the ones containing copper, gold, iron, silver and titanium in their composition.