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New opportunities and old challenges in the clinical translation of nanotheranostics

Nature Reviews Materials volume 8, pages 783–798 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Nanoparticle-based systems imbued with both diagnostic and therapeutic functions, known as nanotheranostics, have enabled remarkable progress in guiding focal therapy, inducing active responses to endogenous and exogenous biophysical stimuli and stratifying patients for optimal treatment. However, although in recent years more nanotechnological platforms and techniques have been implemented in the clinic, several important challenges remain that are specific to nanotheranostics. In this Review, we first discuss some of the many ways of ‘constructing’ nanotheranostics, focusing on the different imaging modalities and therapeutic strategies. We then outline nanotheranostics that are currently used in humans at different stages of clinical development, identifying specific advantages and opportunities. Finally, we define critical steps along the winding road of preclinical and clinical development and suggest actions to overcome technical, manufacturing, regulatory and economical challenges for the safe and effective clinical translation of nanotheranostics.

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Fig. 1: Theranostic nanoparticles.
Fig. 2: Examples of nanotheranostics with different imaging, therapeutic and targeting components.
Fig. 3: Clinical demonstrations of nanotheranostics.
Fig. 4: Milestones in the clinical translation of nanotheranostics.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no. 616695, European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement nos 754490 and 872648. P.D. acknowledges mentoring and support by Stanford’s SPARK Translational Research Program. J.G. acknowledges support by NIH grant nos CA218615, CA215700 and P30 CA08748 (to S. M. Vickers, MSKCC).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Peter J. Gawne, Miguel Ferreira.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK

    Peter J. Gawne

  2. Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK

    Peter J. Gawne

  3. School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK

    Peter J. Gawne

  4. Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Miguel Ferreira

  5. School of Public Health, Imperial College of London, South Kensington Campus, London, UK

    Marisa Papaluca

  6. Molecular Pharmacology Program and Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Jan Grimm

  7. Laboratory of Nanotechnology for Precision Medicine, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy

    Paolo Decuzzi

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Gawne, P.J., Ferreira, M., Papaluca, M. et al. New opportunities and old challenges in the clinical translation of nanotheranostics. Nat Rev Mater 8, 783–798 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-023-00581-x

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