Inorganic nanoconjugates for cancer theragnosis

Over the past few decades, cancer immunotherapies and immunotherapeutic agents have gained immense importance as novel strategies in viable cancer treatment. Nowadays, the researchers are highly focused on developing multifunctional theragnostic agents, combining nanoparticles with therapeutically active bioactives, to achieve targeted therapeutic responses and improved diagnosis at preliminary stages of cancer. In this context, inorganic nanoparticles have found to play a crucial role in the development of newer chemotherapeutic moieties, diagnostic agents, and cancer vaccines. The inorganic nanoparticles can be efficiently conjugated with bioactives (forming cancer nanovaccines) for achieving enhanced targetability against the cancer cells rather than the normal cells, thus reduces the cell cytotoxicity. Apart from this, the inorganic nanoparticles are highly applicable in early stage cancer diagnosis and patient endurance. Although, the inorganic nanoparticles have demonstrated substantial preclinical accomplishments, only a few of them have successfully arrived into the clinical trials for efficient cancer therapy. In this review, we have summarized the immunotherapy mechanism, significance, and applications of some major inorganic nanoparticles in cancer vaccination, diagnosis, and therapy.