Research perspectives: gold nanoparticles in cancer theranostics

High recurrence rates after surgical resection remain a formidable challenge in many cancers. Although chemo- and/or radiotherapy are often applied following surgery to prevent tumor relapse, these treatments are generally accompanied by serious side effects and challenges in their delivery that limit their effectiveness. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which possess unique physicochemical properties, have the potential to enhance the efficacy of these conventional treatment modalities. In this review, we briefly describe the current state of AuNP research in the area of cancer theranostics. Recent studies have investigated AuNPs' use as photothermal converters, drug carriers, radiosensitizers, and imaging probes in a wide range of applications for cancer diagnosis and therapy. AuNPs have promise in minimally invasive thermal ablation therapy, diagnostic imaging, intraoperative tumor margin delineation, and multimodal anticancer therapy. The successful translation of AuNPs into the clinic will have significant impact on the care of cancer patients using image-guided, minimally invasive approaches.