Gold Nanoparticles in Prostate Cancer: Advances in Targeted Therapy, Diagnostics, and Precision Nanomedicine

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common cancers in men globally and there is an urgent need for new immune-based approaches because many traditional therapies, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and anti-androgens, have limitations. Due to their distinct physicochemical and biological features, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are emerging as a potential nanoplatform for the development of strategies in prostate cancer therapy. These features include tunable size, shape, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and high surface-to-volume ratio, which result in enhanced drug loading, targeted delivery and improved bioavailability. In addition, AuNPs can also be functionalized for active targeting to promote selective accumulation in tumors while minimizing systemic toxicity. In addition, the intrinsic optical and photothermal properties of these nanoparticles allow them to serve for PTT, radiosensitization and multimodal imaging, i.e., CT (computed tomography) and photoacoustic imaging. These have shown potential in pre-clinical and clinical evaluation but face issues with long-term toxicity, biodistribution and large-scale manufacturing. In this review, we summarize the organizing features, functional properties, therapeutic activities and translational potentials of AuNPs in prostate cancer treatment, with emphasis on their contributions towards precision nanomedicine.