QUANTUM DOTS IN CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT.

INSITUTE OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY

AUTHORS:- KISHORI KEDIA PRANJAL TASKAR

Authors:-1. Kishori Kedia 2.Pranjal Taskar Abstract: In the pursuit of sensitive and quantitative methods to detect and diagnose cancer, nanotechnology has been identified as a field of great promise. Semiconductor quantum dots are nanoparticles with intense, stable fluorescence, and could enable the detection of tens to hundreds of cancer biomarkers in blood assays, on cancer tissue biopsies, or as contrast agents for medical imaging. The basic rationale is that nanometer-sized particles, such as semiconductor quantum dots and iron oxide nanocrystals, have optical, magnetic, or structural properties that are not available from molecules or bulk solids. When linked with tumor targeting ligands such as monoclonal antibodies, peptides, or small molecules, these nanoparticles can be used to target tumor antigens (biomarkers) as well as tumor vasculatures with high affinity and specificity. QDs with near-infrared emission could be applied to sentinel lymph-node mapping to aid biopsy and surgery. Conjugation of QDs with biomolecules, including peptides and antibodies, could be used to target tumors. Their reduced tendency to photobleach and the dependence of their fluorescence wavelength on their size, make them suitable for fluorescent probing applications to detect cancer biomarkers in vitro and in vivo in cells/tissues/whole body. There is considerable interest among researchers due to the recent developments in QD technology. QDs have been encapsulated in amphiphilic polymers and bound to tumor-targeting ligands and drug delivery vesicles for targeting, imaging and treating tumor cells. Keywords: Quantum dots, semiconductors, nanocrystals, fluorescent probing, cancer biomarkers. Bibliography:

Quantum Dots for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy: Biological and Clinical Perspectives. Hua Zhang; Douglas Yee; Chun Wang www.medscape.com
Sandeep Kumar Vashist, Rupinder Tewari, Ram Prakash Bajpai, Lalit Mohan Bharadwaj and Roberto Raiteri ,Azojono- Journal of Nanotechnology online

Review of Quantum Dot Technologies for Cancer Detection and Treatment

Kishori Kedia, Pranjal Taskar,

T.Y. BPharm, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai- 400019.