Optically-Active Nanomaterials for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications in Ovarian Cancer

The clinical management of cancer has principally relied upon surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy for many decades. Despite recent advances in molecularly-targeted diagnostic and therapeutic agents, the long-term survival rates in patients with solid malignancies including ovarian cancer have improved only incrementally. Nanotechnologies designed to locally interrogate and modulate the tumor microenvironment offer a promising opportunity to enhance existing treatment modalities and establish new therapeutic paradigms. By virtue of their elemental composition, geometry, and surface chemistry, nanomaterials can be engineered with optical and pharmacokinetic properties which permit these agents to localize, fluoresce, and deposit energy within tumors. Nanomaterials therefore provide a clear route towards future approaches for sensitive diagnosis and imaging of tumors and targeted therapeutic delivery.