New frontiers in nanotechnology for cancer treatment

Nanotechnology is a field of research at the crossroads of biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and medicine. Design of multifunctional nanoparticles capable of targeting cancer cells, delivering and releasing drugs in a regulated manner, and detecting cancer cells with enormous specificity and sensitivity are just some examples of the potential application of nanotechnology to oncological diseases. In this review we discuss the recent advances of cancer nanotechnology with particular attention to nanoparticle systems that are in clinical practice or in various stages of development for cancer imaging and therapy.