New advances in nanotechnology-based diagnosis and therapeutics for breast cancer: An assessment of active-targeting inorganic nanoplatforms

Breast cancer is a major cause of suffering and mortality among women. Limitations in the current diagnostic methods and treatment approaches have led to new strategies to positively impact the survival rates and quality of life of breast cancer patients. Nanotechnology offers a real possibility of mitigating breast cancer mortality by early-stage cancer detection and more precise diagnosis as well as more effective treatments with minimal side effects. The current nanoplatforms approved for breast cancer therapeutics are based on passive tumor targeting using organic nanoparticles and have not provided the expected significant improvements in the clinic. In this review, we present the emerging approaches in breast cancer nanomedicine based on active targeting using versatile inorganic nanoplatforms with biomedical relevance, such as gold, silica, and iron oxide nanoparticles, as well as their efficacy in breast cancer imaging, drug and gene delivery, thermal therapy, combinational therapy, and theranostics in preclinical studies. The main challenges for clinical translation and perspectives are discussed.