Figure 1.

Nanotechnology in cancer treatment, diagnosis and prevention. Nanotechnology is being developed in cancer primarily for treatment and diagnosis. Liposomes and nanoparticles are now extensively utilized for delivery of chemotherapeutic agents directly to the target sites. Other drug delivery carriers developed include quantum dots, polymeric micelles, dendrimers and carbon nanotubes. Cancer diagnosis and detection has been benefited by the use of quantum dots, nanocantilevers, and carbon nanotubes. More recently, nanotechnology has also been utilized for delivery of natural products such as EGCG, resveratrol and curcumin in the hopes that this technology could also benefit cancer prevention.

Abbreviation: EGCG, epigallocatechin-3-gallate.