ABSTRACT
The goal of this chapter is to introduce concepts and challenges involved in using metal nanoparticles-particularly gold-as nanomedicines. When a nanoparticle is designed to be used in humans, it is subject to much more rigorous control than a laboratory formulation, and it must be able to be fabricated in large, reproducible batches by commercial laboratories. One of the only solid nanoparticles to have made headway in approvals for nanomedicine is gold. Gold is one of the most well-studied nanoparticle delivery vehicles for drugs, particularly anti-cancer drugs conjugated to the nanoparticle surface. Hyperthermia therapy is a minimally invasive treatment in which the temperature is increased locally to kill malignant cells. Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (XRT) is a critical component of the modern approach to curative and adjuvant treatment of cancers. XRT controls the growth of cancerous cells by bombardment with ionizing radiation, causing DNA damage by direct ionization or through generation of free radicals by ionization of water or oxygen molecules.
