Multifunctional theranostic nanomedicine for photoacoustic imaging-guided combination tumor treatment

Nanomedicine has been explored in the field of oncology with the number of clinical trials nearly doubling each year. A recent advancement in the field of nanomedicine is multifunctional theranostics, which provide a combination of imaging-guided targeted delivery of the chemotherapeutic agent along with the real-time monitoring of the tumor progression. Towards the diagnosis side, various imaging modalities exist; however, each one of them comes with certain limitations such as compromised resolution at deeper penetration, extended scan times, overall cost or involvement of ionizing radiation. Photoacoustic imaging can, to a certain extent overcome many of these limitations and thus help improving over therapeutic potential of nanomedicine. This chapter provides an overview of recent developments in the field of multifunctional theranostics nanomedicine with an emphasis on photoacoustic imaging-guided combination therapy of different forms of cancer. The chapter highlights the potential of these technologies and associated translational challenges.