Engineered Fe3O4-based nanomaterials for diagnosis and therapy of cancer

Malignant tumor is one of the major public health problems seriously threatening the health of people all over the world. Great effort is being devoted to the development of theranostic nanoplatforms to satisfy the demand for precise diagnosis and efficient therapy. Recently, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been extensively explored in cancer diagnosis and the administration of therapeutic drugs thanks to their unique properties such as T1/T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, magnetic targeting, magnetic hyperthermia, and photodynamic/photothermal therapy. Thus, Fe3O4 NPs together with other organic or inorganic materials are developed as theranostic nanoplatforms, thereby having the chance to compete with Gd-based contrast agents in clinics. Therefore, Fe3O4-based theranostic nanoplatforms have the potential to be used in individual therapies in the near future. In this review, the recent progress in fabricating Fe3O4-based theranostic nanoplatforms is summarized and their applications in biomedical area are also highlighted.