Emergence of Quantum Dots as Innovative Tools for Early Diagnosis and Advanced Treatment of Breast Cancer

• Published in: ChemMedChem 2024-08, Vol.19 (16), p.e202400172-n/a
• Main Authors: Díaz‐García, Diana, Díaz‐Sánchez, Miguel, Álvarez‐Conde, Javier, Gómez‐Ruiz, Santiago
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Breast cancer; Cancer therapies; Diagnosis; Drug delivery; Drug development; Imaging techniques; Magnetic properties; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medical imaging; Medical innovations; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology; Pharmaceuticals; Pharmacology; Quantum dots; Toxicity; triple negative breast cancer
• ISSN: 1860-7179; 1860-7187; 1860-7187
• DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202400172

Quantum dots (QDs) semiconducting nanomaterials, have garnered attention due to their distinctive properties, including small size, high luminescence, and biocompatibility. In the context of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC), notorious for its resistance to conventional treatments, QDs exhibit promising potential for enhancing diagnostic imaging and providing targeted therapies. This review underscores recent advancements in the utilization of QDs in imaging techniques, such as fluorescence tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, aiming at the early and precise detection of tumors. Emphasis is placed on the significance of QD design, synthesis and functionalization processes as well as their use in innovative strategies for targeted drug delivery, capitalizing on their ability to selectively deliver therapeutic agents to cancer cells. As the research in this field advances rapidly, this review covers a classification of QDs according to their composition, the characterization techniques than can be used to determine their properties and, subsequently, emphasizes recent findings in the field of TNBC‐targeting, highlighting the imperative need to address challenges, like potential toxicity or methodologies standardization. Collectively, the findings explored thus far suggest that QDs could pave the way for early diagnosis and effective therapy of TNBC, representing a significant stride toward precise and personalized strategies in treating TNBC. This review underscores the inmense potential of quantum dots (QDs) in advancing the diagnosis and treatment of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), covering from the most common synthetic methods, classification of the QDs, main properties and techniques to detect their features and current studies for detecting, targeting, and / or therapeutcially treating TNBC.