SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “cancer theranostics”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Metal-Organic Framework-Based and Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Nanomaterials for Cancer Theranostics and Antibacterial Applications: Advances, Challenges, and Perspectives.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), constructed through coordination-driven self-assembly of metal ions/clusters and organic linkers, have emerged as a uniquely versatile class of porous nanomaterials with broad biomedical potential. Despite substantial clinical progress, both oncological treatment and antimicrobial intervention remain constrained by inadequate tumor-targeting selectivity, multidrug resistance, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments, and the global proliferation of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, limitations that conventional nanocarrier platforms have addressed only in part. MOF-based and MOF-derived nanomaterials, distinguished by tunable pore architecture, structurally and compositionally adaptable metal nodes, high surface areas, and stimulus-responsive degradability, offer a rational framework for overcoming these barriers. This review systematically examines the synthetic strategies underlying MOF-based and MOF-derived nanomaterials, including pyrolysis, chemical etching, composite modification, and functional group introduction, and their structural determinants of performance. In cancer theranostics, we critically evaluate their roles as multimodal imaging contrast agents, stimulus-responsive drug delivery carriers, and platforms for combination therapies encompassing photodynamic, photothermal, chemodynamic, and immunomodulatory modalities. In antibacterial applications, we analyze the mechanistic basis of MOF-based and MOF-derived activity, including physical membrane disruption, reactive oxygen species-mediated oxidative stress, and sustained metal ion release, alongside strategies targeting biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance. Multifunctional platforms that concurrently integrate cancer theranostic and antibacterial capabilities are further discussed. This review also addresses the principal barriers to clinical translation, encompassing large-scale manufacturing, long-term biosafety, and regulatory approval, and proposes future directions incorporating artificial intelligence-assisted design and materials genomics, underscoring the transformative potential of MOF-based and MOF-derived nanomaterials as next-generation precision nanomedicines. This review establishes a unified mechanistic framework grounded in the intrinsic physicochemical properties of MOF-derived nanomaterials, systematically integrating their applications in cancer theranostics and antibacterial therapy. Critically, it bridges fundamental advances with translational reality by incorporating a rigorous assessment of regulatory pathways, scalable manufacturing constraints, and clinical implementation barriers, and offers a comprehensive, practice-oriented reference for the rational design and responsible translation of MOF-based and MOF-derived nanomaterials.

Theranostic Nanomedicine↗

PubMed2026

FAP+ pericyte-like cells promote monocyte differentiation into tumor-associated macrophages in glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive primary brain tumor characterized by profound immunosuppression that facilitates tumor progression and promotes therapeutic resistance. Fibroblast activation protein (FAP), a recognized theranostic target in multiple cancers, is upregulated in GBM and predominantly expressed by pericyte-like stromal cells. Here we identify a role for FAP⁺ pericyte-like cells in shaping the GBM immune microenvironment through monocyte recruitment and differentiation. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets, supported by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry, revealed that elevated FAP expression-serving as a proxy for the abundance of FAP⁺ pericyte-like cells-is associated with an immune-enriched tumor microenvironment characterized by higher macrophage abundance and elevated expression of M2 polarization markers. Spatial analyses, including immunofluorescence and spatial transcriptomics, demonstrated that immunosuppressive macrophages preferentially localize in proximity to FAP⁺ pericytes. Single-cell RNA sequencing identified these FAP⁺ cells as a distinct perivascular stromal subset with a unique expression pattern of extracellular matrix components and cytokines, including CCL2 and CSF1, with corresponding receptors expressed on myeloid cells. Functional assays using patient-derived FAP⁺ pericyte-like cells confirmed their ability to attract monocytes via soluble mediators and to promote their differentiation and polarization into tumor-associated macrophages with immunoregulatory features, partly mediated by the CSF1-CSF1R axis. Orthotopic co-implantation experiments in mice further supported their capacity to enhance myeloid infiltration in vivo. Consistent with these biological effects, a transcriptional signature characteristic of FAP⁺ pericytes correlated with worse overall survival in patients with GBM. Together, these findings position FAP⁺ pericyte-like cells as modulators of the GBM immune landscape, fostering a tumor-permissive niche by promoting the differentiation of circulating monocytes into immunoregulatory macrophages. Targeting this stromal population may offer new therapeutic avenues to reprogram tumor-associated immune responses in GBM.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2026

Molecular clusters and precision medicine in pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas.

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors derived from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and extra-adrenal paraganglia. Over the past two decades, the genomic characterization of PPGLs has profoundly transformed their diagnosis, classification, risk stratification, and therapeutic management. Up to 40% of PPGLs harbor germline pathogenic variants, the highest proportion among human neoplasms, and somatic driver events are identified in a substantial fraction of the remaining cases. Integrative multi-omic studies have established three main molecular clusters: a pseudohypoxic cluster driven by Krebs-cycle alterations (SDHx, FH, MDH2, DLST) and HIF-2α pathway alterations (VHL, EPAS1, EGLN1/2); a kinase-signaling cluster driven by activation of RAS/MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways (RET, NF1, HRAS, TMEM127, MAX); and a Wnt-signaling cluster characterized primarily by MAML3 fusions. This review summarizes progress in PPGL genomics, highlighting geographic and sex-related particularities. Using EPAS1/HIF-2α and RET as paradigmatic examples, we illustrate how diverse germline, somatic, mosaic, and fusion events converge on common core signaling hubs that can be therapeutically exploited with FDA-approved selective inhibitors for relevant targets (e.g. belzutifan for HIF-2α; selpercatinib and pralsetinib for RET). We further review the genomic determinants of metastatic risk (SDHB, ATRX, TERT, and MAML3 fusions), the immune microenvironment of metastatic disease, and emerging radionuclide theranostics, liquid biopsy biomarkers, and integrative multi-omic approaches that are reshaping precision medicine for PPGLs.

Humans↗

PubMed2026

Iron-Deprivation Liposomes for Cancer Therapy.

Targeting iron homeostasis in tumor cells represents a promising anticancer strategy, as iron plays essential roles in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. Although deferoxamine can effectively chelate iron, its clinical application is limited by poor membrane permeability, short half-life, and lack of targeting capability. To overcome these challenges, we designed and synthesized a family of DFO-bearing lipids by modifying the molecule with dual fatty acid chains of varying lengths, and co-assembled them with auxiliary lipids via microfluidics to construct "iron-deprivation" liposomes. Among them, the medium-chain DFO-C12-liposomes exhibited the highest cellular uptake, iron-deprivation efficiency, and anticancer activity in vitro, markedly depleting mitochondrial iron, disrupting Fe-S cluster synthesis, suppressing mitochondrial respiration, and inducing autophagy. Furthermore, DFO-C12-liposomes efficiently coordinated Mn2 + via DFO-Mn2 + chelation, providing MRI capability while inducing iron deprivation-mediated ferroptosis. In addition, the iron-deprivation liposomes can encapsulate anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin, leading to an enhanced antitumor effect through the combination of iron deprivation and chemotherapy for osteosarcoma treatment. In summary, the "iron-deprivation" liposomes integrate iron chelation, imaging functionality, and chain-length-dependent cellular uptake into a versatile nanoplatform for regulating tumor iron homeostasis and achieving enhanced antitumor efficacy through multimodal therapeutic strategies.

alkyl chain‐length engineering↗