Nanotechnology holds tremendous promise for the treatment of cancer, if the science can be translated from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside, according to the author of an editorial published online today by the Medical Journal of Australia.

Professor Zdenka Kuncic, at the School of Physics, University of Sydney, wrote that nanotechnology - underpinned by the fact that "some materials, when reduced from everyday, bulk scales down to nanoscales (billionths of a metre; smaller than the size of a typical virus), exhibit dramatically different physical properties" - would become a part of the "inevitable reality" of personalised medicine in the 21st century.

"An important example of how nanoscale properties can be harnessed for medical applications is magnetic resonance imaging", Professor Kuncic wrote.

"Here, image contrast is enhanced using magnetic nanoparticles, usually based on gadolinium or iron oxide, which exhibit strong magnetism only when reduced to scales of 20 nm or less."

Research continues into the use of nanoparticles in the development of better tumour-targeted delivery of cancer therapeutics, she wrote.

Despite promising results in the laboratory, however, most nanoplatforms developed for cancer therapy have not progressed past Phase II clinical trials. That is, the effectiveness and safety has only been tested in small groups of patients.

"The problems are many", Professor Kuncic wrote.

"Key difficulties include controlling nanoparticle size and preventing nanoparticle aggregation in vivo, which are critical for clearance by the kidney or liver.

"Biocompatibility, blood circulation time and the ability to elude the immune system for long enough to release a therapeutic cargo are similarly difficult to clinically validate.

"Additional practical challenges that need to be overcome for clinical translation include tumour cell specificity, cellular uptake and localisation, as well as controlled release and functionality of the cancer therapeutic."

Despite the difficulties researchers remain optimistic with new efforts focusing on the potential to extend the capabilities of other therapeutic and imaging nanoplatforms developed and approved for non-cancer indications.

"For example", Professor Kuncic wrote, "ferumoxytol is an iron oxide nanoparticle used for treating anaemia, and also a magnetic resonance imaging contrast-enhancing agent".

"Nanotheranostics - the use of nanoplatforms combining targeted therapy and diagnostic imaging functionality - is a rapidly growing trend.

"Bringing together clinical and basic science researchers from diverse backgrounds is the key to creating unique opportunities for genuine breakthrough discoveries in cancer nanomedicine", she concluded.

MJA podcast: Professor Christoph Hagemeyer, Director of the Vascular Biotechnology Laboratory at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, discusses his team's development of a nanocapsule, which seeks out and bursts blood clots by releasing a clot-busting drug. Available here.