10. Conclusion

Nanomaterials can provide a new angle of attack on cancer cells. In particular, they can enable better targeting of the affected cell, thereby reducing side effects. They can also amplify the effect of conventional therapies. Hyperthermia, for example, sensitizes cancer cells to radiotherapy. This example is particularly significant. These new materials are not a therapeutic revolution, but just another weapon in an arsenal that has been building up since the second half of the last century.

Nanomaterials can be vectors or effectors. The use of nanomaterials as therapeutic elements is still a matter of debate. While in vitro or pre-clinical animal trials are numerous, phase III human clinical trials are relatively few and have not yet really enabled us to define protocols for use in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy that would win the support of the...