Theranostics is a type of emerging biomedical technology that integrates diagnostics with therapeutics, thus possesses significant biomedical impact on various diseases, especially cancer, in terms of fundamental research and clinical applications. A cancer theranostic agent is usually composed of a diagnostic component, which allows for cancer imaging and detection, and a therapeutic component, which allows for cancer therapy. Through the integration of diagnosis and therapy in a single nanoparticle, several novel merits are expected, including accurate localization of tumor area, in situ therapy, and real-time monitoring of therapeutic progress. In this paper, we firstly introduce the development of cancer theranostics and analyze their unique advantages for cancer diagnosis and treatment. We then focuse on the latest progress on the construction of various cancer theranostic agents. In the end, we discusse the challenges and possible future directions of cancer theranostics.

cancer  /  theranostics  /  diagnostic agents  /  therapeutic agents  /  nanomedicine