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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the deadliest diseases worldwide due to a lack of early detection methods and appropriate drug delivery strategies. Conventional imaging techniques cannot accurately distinguish benign from malignant tissue, leading to frequent misdiagnosis or diagnosis at late stages of the disease. Novel screening tools with improved accuracy and diagnostic precision are thus required to reduce the mortality burden of this malignancy. Additionally, current therapeutic strategies, including radio- and chemotherapies carry adverse side effects and are limited by the development of drug resistance. Recent advances in nanotechnology have rendered it an attractive approach for designing novel clinical solutions for CRC. Nanoparticle-based formulations could assist early tumor detection and help to overcome the limitations of conventional therapies including poor aqueous solubility, nonspecific biodistribution and limited bioavailability. In this review, we shed light on various types of nanoparticles used for diagnosis and drug delivery in CRC. In addition, we will explore how these nanoparticles can improve diagnostic accuracy and promote selective drug targeting to tumor sites with increased efficiency and reduced cytotoxicity against healthy colon tissue., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Female-specific cancers are the most common cancers in women worldwide. Early detection methods remain unavailable for most of these cancers, signifying that most of them are diagnosed at later stages. Furthermore, current treatment options for most female-specific cancers are surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Although important milestones in molecularly targeted approaches have been achieved lately, current therapeutic strategies for female-specific cancers remain limited, ineffective and plagued by the emergence of chemoresistance, which aggravates prognosis. Recently, the application of nanotechnology to the medical field has allowed the development of novel nano-based approaches for the management and treatment of cancers, including female-specific cancers. These approaches promise to improve patient survival rates by reducing side effects, enabling selective delivery of drugs to tumor tissues and enhancing the uptake of therapeutic compounds, thus increasing anti-tumor activity. In this review, we focus on the application of nano-based technologies to the design of novel and innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the context of female-specific cancers, highlighting their potential uses and limitations., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cancer is an outrageous disease with uncontrolled differentiation, growth, and migration to the other parts of the body. It is the second-most common cause of death both in the U.S. and worldwide. Current conventional therapies, though much improved and with better prognosis, have several limitations. Chemotherapeutic agents, for instance, are cytotoxic to both tumor and healthy cells, and the non-specific distribution of drugs at tumor sites limits the dose administered. Nanotechnology, which evolved from the coalescence and union of varied scientific disciplines, is a novel science that has been the focus of much research. This technology is generating more effective cancer therapies to overcome biomedical and biophysical barriers against standard interventions in the body; its unique magnetic, electrical, and structural properties make it a promising tool. This article reviews endogenous- and exogenous-based stimulus-responsive drug delivery systems designed to overcome the limitations of conventional therapies. The article also summarizes the study of nanomaterials, including polymeric, gold, silver, magnetic, and quantum dot nanoparticles. Though an array of drug delivery systems has so far been proposed, there remain many challenges and concerns that should be addressed in order to fill the gaps in the field. Prominence is given to drug delivery systems that employ external- and internal-based stimuli and that are emerging as promising tools for cancer therapeutics in clinical settings., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cancer theranostics represents a strategy that aims at combining diagnosis with therapy through the simultaneous imaging and targeted delivery of therapeutics to cancer cells. Recently, the folate receptor alpha has emerged as an attractive theranostic target due to its overexpression in multiple solid tumors and its great functional versatility. In fact, it can be incorporated into folate-conjugated nano-systems for imaging and drug delivery. Hence, it can be used along the line of personalized clinical strategies as both an imaging tool and a delivery method ensuring the selective transport of treatments to tumor cells, thus highlighting its theranostic qualities. In this review, we will explore these theranostic characteristics in detail and assess their clinical potential. We will also discuss the technological advances that have allowed the design of sophisticated folate-based nanocarriers harboring various chemical properties and suited for the transport of various therapeutic agents., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process involving large protein degradation by a ubiquitous autophagosomic signaling pathway, which is essential for cellular homeostasis. It is triggered by environmental factors such as stress, lack of nutrients, inflammation, and eliminating intracellular pathogens. Although the mechanisms underlying autophagy are still unclear, increasing evidence illuminates the magnitude of autophagy in a wide range of physiological processes and human diseases. Simultaneously, research community has focused on the triggering of autophagy by the internalization of engineered nanomaterials, which indicates a new line of revolution in cancer cure. However, most studies on nanoparticle-induced autophagy focus on brain, breast, and cervical cancers; limited reports are available on gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. Therefore, the aim of this mini review is to discuss in detail the role of autophagy in GI malignancy and the status of research on nanoparticle-induced autophagy., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Although much progress has been made in treating cancers, cancer death rates in and around the United States are still high. Current treatments are either ineffective against some cancers or detrimental to patients, which decreases their quality of life. The use of nanotechnology in cancer therapy can potentially increase patient survival, reduce side effects, and reduce mortality rates because nanoparticles (NPs) have the potential to target only tumors and bypass healthy cells. NPs possess many features, including size, shape, charge, and composition, which allow them to carry chemotherapeutics to cancer cells. NPs can also be used in radiotherapy as radiosensitizers and in imaging as contrast agents. Many studies have performed in vitro and/or in vivo experiments on these particles in human and animal cell lines. This review discusses recent studies on different NPs and their potential use in cancer therapy.

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