Table 2.

Recent investigations regarding Nanodiamonds for cancer therapy.

S.No.	Year	Methodology adopted for cancer investigation	In vitro and in vivo results
1.	2014	Cellular uptake studies of nanodiamond doxorubicin complex (NDDOX) via laser scanning confocal microscopy using HepG2 cells. In vivo survival rate comparison studies. Histopathology of tumor after treatment with NDDOX.	Slow and sustained drug release characteristics compared with free doxorubicin. Survival rate with NDDOX was four times greater than that free doxorubicin. Histopathological analysis revealed non-toxicity of NDs and NDDOX to kidney, liver, or spleen in contrast with the well-known toxic effects of free doxorubicin [77].
2.	2010	Nanodiamonds-paclitaxel conjugation for cancer therapy and evaluated by atomic force microscope and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.	Reduction in cell viability in the A549 human lung carcinoma cells. ND-paclitaxel was taken into lung cancer cells and was located in the microtubules and cytoplasm of A549 cells observed by flow cytometer analysis and confocal microscopy respectively. Tumor growth and formation of lung cancer cells were also blocked in xenograft SCID mice [78].
3.	2015	Self-assembled nanodiamond-lipid hybrid particles (NDLPs) were used for cell-targeted imaging and therapy of triple negative breast cancers.	Highly biocompatible particles providing cell-specific imaging, tumor retention of ND-complexes, preventing epirubicin toxicities and mediating regression of triple negative breast cancers [79].
4.	2014	Epirubicin was used to synthesize stable nanodiamond–drug complex.	Increased endocytic uptake and enhanced tumor cell retention. Improved impairment of secondary tumor formation [73].
5.	2015	Surface irradiated nanodiamonds (INDs) were grafted with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to improve its stability and circulation time in blood.	INDs accumulate in tumors and completely delineate the entire tumor within 10 h [38].