# Interpreting the Theranostic Applications of Alumina and Silica Substrates in Cancer

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how alumina and silica substrates are being used in cancer treatment for drug delivery and biosensing, offering new therapeutic and diagnostic possibilities.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of alumina and silica substrates as emerging theranostic platforms in cancer.

## Key findings

- Alumina and silica substrates offer mechanical stability, high loading capacity, and biocompatibility for biomedical applications.
- These substrates can be functionalized with antibodies to detect cancer biomarkers like CA15-3, SAA1, EpCAM, and HER2.
- They are promising for drug delivery of chemotherapeutics, photosensitizers, and gene agents in cancer treatment.

## Abstract

In recent years, remarkable progress in nanomedicine has been achieved, leading to the development of several nanocarriers which aim to enhance the therapeutic efficacy in cancer treatment. Owing to their high versatility and highly tunable physicochemical properties, alumina (Al2O3) and silica (SiO2) substrates represent promising and innovative nanoplatforms that are widely used in biomedical applications, such as drug-delivery, diagnosis, and biosensing in cancer. In particular, such platforms possess multiple advantageous properties, including mechanical stability, high loading capacity, tunable porosity, excellent biocompatibility, and in vitro and in vivo low toxicity. In this review article, we discuss their emerging role as biosensing platforms and drug delivery systems in oncology. As such, we describe how these substrates enable the incorporation of antibodies against various cancer biomarkers [e.g., cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3), serum amyloid A1 (SAA1), epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)] for the detection of multiple malignancies. Furthermore, we highlight the development of highly promising alumina- and silica-based platforms for drug delivery (e.g., chemotherapeutics, photosensitizers, or gene delivery agents) in cancer. Ultimately, by providing a comprehensive overview alongside a critical analysis, we demonstrate that such nanostructures represent promising platforms for potential clinical translation in cancer medicine, helping to mitigate the limitations of conventional cancer therapies.