ABSTRACT
Gold nanoparticles are especially suited to thermal destruction of cancer due to their ease of surface functionalization and photothermal heating ability. This chapter reviews the progress in gold nanoparticle-mediated thermal cancer therapies. It provides an introduction to the properties of gold nanoparticles and heat-generating mechanisms which have been established. The difference between traditional hyperthermia and photothermal therapy is that photothermal heating only occurs in the area directly around the gold nanoparticles, and local temperatures can rise to tens or hundreds of degrees above physiological temperature. The first demonstrations of gold nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy have led to an increase in studies seeking to use gold nanoparticles for photothermal cancer treatment. In the RF hyperthermia systems described, a 13.56 MHz signal is applied to a sample containing gold nanoparticles which is placed in the space between two electrodes.
