Photodynamic Therapy Based on Graphene and MXene in Cancer Theranostics

Arianna Gazzi; Laura Fusco; Anooshay Khan; Davide Bedognetti; Barbara Zavan; Flavia Vitale; Acelya Yilmazer; Lucia Gemma Delogu

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2019.00295

Photodynamic Therapy Based on Graphene and MXene in Cancer Theranostics

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2019 Oct 25:7:295. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00295. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Arianna Gazzi^{1

2}, Laura Fusco^{1

2

3}, Anooshay Khan⁴, Davide Bedognetti³, Barbara Zavan^{5

6}, Flavia Vitale^{7

8}, Acelya Yilmazer^{4

9}, Lucia Gemma Delogu^{2

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
² Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza, Padua, Italy.
³ Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ankara, Ankara, Turkey.
⁵ Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
⁶ Maria Cecilia Hospital, GVM Care & Research, Ravenna, Italy.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Bioengineering, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
⁸ Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration, and Restoration, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
⁹ Stem Cell Institute, University of Ankara, Ankara, Turkey.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Therefore, the development of new advanced and targeted strategies in cancer research for early diagnosis and treatment has become essential to improve diagnosis outcomes and reduce therapy side effects. Graphene and more recently, MXene, are the main representatives of the family of two-dimensional (2D) materials and are widely studied as multimodal nanoplatforms for cancer diagnostics and treatment, in particular leveraging their potentialities as photodynamic therapeutic agents. Indeed, due to their irreplaceable physicochemical properties, they are virtuous allies for photodynamic therapy (PDT) in combination with bioimaging, photothermal therapy, as well as drug and gene delivery. In this review, the rapidly progressing literature related to the use of these promising 2D materials for cancer theranostics is described in detail, highlighting all their possible future advances in PDT.

Keywords: MXene; graphene; nanomedicine; photodynamic therapy; theranostics.

Publication types

Review