[Nanotechnology and consequences for surgical oncology]

Nanotechnology in medicine is often associated with the vision of the so-called nano-robots, which may be able to do many different non-invasive interventions within the human body. Looked at more closely, it appears that the overall futuristic impression of nanotechnology in medicine is much more practical. E.g. superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are in use for a long time as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging. Nanoparticular pharmaceutics or medical products are used for new therapeutic approaches, which are able to enter specifically certain types of tumor tissues or tumor cells, so that the local effectiveness of former systemic therapies may be improved.