pharmaceutics Review Current Trends in Cancer Nanotheranostics: Metallic, Polymeric, and Lipid-Based Systems Catarina Oliveira Silva 1,† , Jacinta Oliveira Pinho 1,†, Joana Margarida Lopes 2, António J. Almeida 1, Maria Manuela Gaspar 1,* and Catarina Reis 1,3,* 1 iMedUlisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal;
[email protected] (C.O.S.);
[email protected] (J.O.P.);
[email protected] (A.J.A.) 2 Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal;
[email protected] 3 IBEB, Faculty of Sciences, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal * Correspondence:
[email protected] (M.M.G.);
[email protected] (C.R.); Tel.: +351-217-946-400 (ext. 14774 or 14244) (M.M.G. & C.R.); Fax: +351-217-946-470 (M.M.G. & C.R.) † Equal Contributors. Received: 2 December 2018; Accepted: 1 January 2019; Published: 8 January 2019 Abstract: Theranostics has emerged in recent years to provide an efficient and safer alternative in cancer management. This review presents an updated description of nanotheranostic formulations under development for skin cancer (including melanoma), head and neck, thyroid, breast, gynecologic, prostate, and colon cancers, brain-related cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. With this focus, we appraised the clinical advantages and drawbacks of metallic, polymeric, and lipid-based nanosystems, such as low invasiveness, low toxicity to the surrounding healthy tissues, high precision, deeper tissue penetration, and dosage adjustment in a real-time setting. Particularly recognizing the increased complexity and multimodality in this area, multifunctional hybrid nanoparticles, comprising different nanomaterials and functionalized with targeting moieties and/or anticancer drugs, present the best characteristics for theranostics.