Application of nanotechnology in theranostics

The field of medicine has the potential to take very significant benefits from the latest advances in nanotechnology applications, including early disease detection, personalized treatment and accurate patient follow-up. The innovative idea of "nanomedicine" is actually emerging, and it is expected to revolutionize several traditional concepts, starting from cancer management protocols. The possibility of manufacturing nanoparticle contrast agents that can be selectively targeted to specific pathological cells, in fact, has extended molecular imaging applications to non-ionizing techniques and, at the same time, has introduced the exciting perspective of combining highly accurate diagnoses and personalized therapies in single "theranostic" interventions. Main developing applications of nanosized theranostic agents include targeted molecular imaging, controlled drug release, therapeutic monitoring, guidance of radiation-based treatments and surgical interventions. This chapter introduces recent nanotechnological applications in the field of cancer molecular imaging employing nonionizing techniques and disease-specific contrast agents, with special focus on innovative theranostic strategies for selective cancer detection and simultaneous treatment.