“Smart” nanomaterials for cancer therapy

Recent development in nanotechnology has provided new tools for cancer therapy and diagnostics. Because of their small size, nanoscale devices readily interact with biomolecules both on the cell surface and inside the cell. Nanomaterials, such as fullerenes and their derivatives, are effective in terms of interactions with the immune system and have great potential as anticancer drugs. Comparatively, other nanomaterials are able to load active drugs to cancer cells by selectively using the unique tumor environment, such as their enhanced permeability, retention effect and the specific acidic microenvironment. Multifunctional and multiplexed nanoparticles, as the next generation of nanoparticles, are now being extensively investigated and are promising tools to achieve personalized and tailored cancer treatments.