ABSTRACT
Material processing technologies combined with fundamental knowledge of the chemistry and physics of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs) are advancing at an unprecedented rapid speed and are thus offering new perspectives for the widespread utilization of these nanomaterials in all areas of human society. QDs are a fascinating novel class of fluorescent nanomaterials that promise to revolutionize the emerging applications of nanotechnology in medicine and biology, which is known as nanomedicine. Cancer is one of the main challenges faced by scientists and professionals in the health sciences in the 21st century because it remains one of the world’s most devastating diseases with tens of millions of new cases every year. Thus, in this entry, we attempted to survey and present the advances in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, focusing on their applications in nanomedicine and, more specifically, in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, because these novel applications are currently drawing the attention of the research communities in the fields of medical and biological sciences, materials and chemical engineering, physics, and chemistry, we endeavored to review these QD-based nanomaterials in order to provide a both comprehensive and accessible report of this information to newcomers to this attractive realm of science.
