Theranostics 2016; 6(7):918-929. doi:10.7150/thno.14689 This issue Cite
Review
1. Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7571, USA;
2. UNC and NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
Over the last four years, the Lipid-Calcium-Phosphate (LCP) nanoparticle platform has shown success in a wide range of treatment strategies, recently including theranostics. The high specific drug loading of radiometals into LCP, coupled with its ability to efficiently encapsulate many types of cytotoxic agents, allows a broad range of theranostic applications, many of which are yet unexplored. In addition to providing an overview of current medical imaging modalities, this review highlights the current theranostic applications for LCP using SPECT and PET, and discusses potential future uses of the platform by comparing it with both systemically and locally delivered clinical radiotherapy options as well as introducing its applications as an MRI contrast agent. Strengths and weaknesses of LCP and of nanoparticles in general are discussed, as well as caveats regarding the use of fluorescence to determine the accumulation or biodistribution of a probe.
Keywords: Cancer, Theranostic, SPECT, PET, SIRT, Nanoparticle, LCP.