Recent Advances on Graphene Quantum Dots as Multifunctional
Nanoplatforms for Cancer Treatment
Abstract
Graphene quantum dots (GQDs), the latest member of graphene family, have
attracted outstanding interest in the last few years, due to their
outstanding physical, chemical, electrical, optical and biological
properties. Their strong size-dependent photoluminescence (PL) and the
presence of many reactive groups on the graphene surface allow their
multimodal conjugation with therapeutic agents, targeting ligands,
polymers, light responsive agents, fluorescent dyes, and functional
nanoparticles, making them valuable agents for cancer diagnosis and
treatment. In this review, the very recent advances covering the last
three years on the applications of GQDs as drug delivery systems (DDS)
and theranostic tools for anticancer therapy are discussed, highlighting
the relevant factors which regulate their biocompatibility. Among these
factors, the size, kind and degree of surface functionalization have
shown to greatly affect their use in biological systems. Toxicity
issues, which still represent an open challenge for the clinical
development of GQDs based therapeutic agents, are also discussed at
cellular and animal levels.