TABLE 3.

Dendrimers used as contrast agents for cancer.

Dendrimer type	Contrast agent	Conjugate	Targeting ligand	Imaging method	Animal mode/Cell line	Ref
Phenylalanine dendrimers	99mTc	99 mTc-labeled dendrimer-phenylalanine conjugate	-	SPECT	C6 Glioma cell lines	Han et al. (2011)
G5 PAMAM	131I radionuclide	G5-NH2 terminated PAMAM-PEG-CTX-HPAO-I131	MMP-2 overexpressing tumor cells	SPECT	Mice glioma cell model	Rasouli et al. (2021)
G3 Dendrigraft poly-L lysine’s	DTPA-Gd	Gd-DTPA-D3-PEG-CTX	Chlorotoxin for MMP-2 receptors	MRI	Mice	Zhao et al. (2015)
Soluble dendrimers	99 mTc	soluble dendrimer- porphyrins (T4CPP)- 99 mTc	--	MRI/PET/SPECT	C6 Glioma cells	Subbarayan et al. (2001)
G2 PAMAM	Macrocyclic Mn (II)	RGD-Au–Mn DENP	Arginine-glycine aspartic acid (RGD) peptide in tumor cells producing αvβ3Integrin	CT and MRI	Mice	Xu et al. (2019)
G3 Poly-l-lysine dendrigraft	DTPA-Gd	SP-PEG-DGL-DTPA-DACHPt	An endogenous neuropeptide known as substance P that binds to the neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor	MRI	Mice	Sun et al. (2017)
G5 PAMAM	SPIONs	5NHAc-RGDFe3O4 NPs	RGD peptide for tumour cells that express αvβ3Integrin	MRI	Mice	Yang et al. (2015)
G5 PAMAM	DTPA-Gd	GdDTPA-PAMAM-PEG-T7	Peptide T7 designed to use with cancer cells that express transferrin (Tfr) receptors	MRI	Mice	Huang et al. (2011)
G5PAMAM	131I	131I-labeled dendrimers modified with LyP-1 peptide	dendrimeric nanodevice, radionuclide therapy, antimetastasis therapy of cancer	SPECT	Mice	Song et al. (2020)
Polyglycerol dendrimers	boron-dipyrromethene	boron-dipyrromethene conjugated polyglycerol dendrimers	Fluorescent probe	single-molecule optical imaging	-	Yang et al. (2013)
PAMAM	Sodium dye	Sodium dye conjugated PAMAM dendrimers	sodium-sensitive nanoprobe imaging	Ion imaging	Neural cells	Lamy et al. (2012)

DTPA-Gd, Gadopentetic acid; Gd-DTPA-D3-PEG-CTX, gadopentetic acid-chlorotoxin (CTX) to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) coated dendrimers; RGD-Au-Mn DENP, (Arg-Gly-Asp-D-Phe-Lys) peptide modified PEGylated dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles; SP-PEG-DGL-DTPADACHPt, Substance P-PEG- dendrigraft poly-L-lysines Cpmlexed with diethylenetriaminpentaacetic acid and (1,2-diaminocyclohexane platinum(II); 5NHAc-RGDFe3O4 NPs-iron oxide nanoparticles conjugated with Arg-Gly-Asp modified dendrimers.