Hélder A. Santos

Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, Drug Research Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Helsinki Institute of Life Science, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

Explosive growth of nanomedicines continues to significantly impact the therapeutic strategies for effective cancer treatment. Despite the significant progress in the development of advanced nanomedicines, successful clinical translation remains challenging. However, novel biomedical engineering technologies have been underlined as very promising means for the advance in medical research [1–3]. Personalized medicine allows for the identification of the right therapy, reaching the right therapeutic target in the body at the right time in an efficient manner, with reduced undesired collateral effects [4]. In this context, target nanomedicines are of great interest towards the development of personalized medicines and envisaged for their large-scale implementation. Recently, we have developed prominent biomaterials, such as porous silicon and polymer-based micro/nano-particles as potential platforms for cancer theranostics and other individualization of medical intervention [5–13]. All these biomaterials are promising advanced drug delivery technologies for biomedical applications. The results of the efficient surface biofunctionalization, targeting, imaging, encapsulation of drug molecules using advanced technologies, such the microfluidics technique, are presented and discussed in detail. Examples on how these materials can be used to enhance the bioavailability of drug/peptide molecules, demonstrating their cytocompatibility, in vivo biofate (imaging) and intracellular cancer targeting, are also discussed for different biomedical applications. Overall, the recent cutting-edge advances on nanomaterials are anticipated to overcome some of the therapeutic window and clinical applicability of many drug/peptide molecules and, thereby, hopefully enhancing the expectancy and quality of life of the patients.

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