Internally Responsive Nanomaterials for Activatable Multimodal Imaging of Cancer

Advances in technology and nanomedicine have led to the development of nanoparticles that can be activated for multimodal imaging of cancer, where a stimulus induces a material modification that enhances image contrast. Multimodal imaging using nanomaterials with this capability can combine the advantages and overcome the limitations of any single imaging modality. When designed with stimuli-responsive abilities, the target-to-background ratio of multimodal imaging nanoprobes increases because specific stimuli in the tumor enhance the signal. Several aspects of the tumor microenvironment can be exploited as an internal stimulus response for multimodal imaging applications, such as the pH gradient, redox processes, overproduction of various enzymes, or combinations of these. In this review, design strategies are discussed and an overview of the recent developments of internally responsive multimodal nanomaterials is provided. Properly implementing this approach improves noninvasive cancer diagnosis and staging as well as provides a method to monitor drug delivery and treatment response.