AUTHOR=d'Angelo Michele , Castelli Vanessa , Benedetti Elisabetta , Antonosante Andrea , Catanesi Mariano , Dominguez-Benot Reyes , Pitari Giuseppina , Ippoliti Rodolfo , Cimini Annamaria TITLE=Theranostic Nanomedicine for Malignant Gliomas JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology VOLUME=7 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00325 DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00325 ISSN=2296-4185 ABSTRACT=

Brain tumors mainly originate from glial cells and are classified as gliomas. Malignant gliomas represent an incurable disease; indeed, after surgery and chemotherapy, recurrence appears within a few months, and mortality has remained high in the last decades. This is mainly due to the heterogeneity of malignant gliomas, indicating that a single therapy is not effective for all patients. In this regard, the advent of theranostic nanomedicine, a combination of imaging and therapeutic agents, represents a strategic tool for the management of malignant brain tumors, allowing for the detection of therapies that are specific to the single patient and avoiding overdosing the non-responders. Here, recent theranostic nanomedicine approaches for glioma therapy are described.