TiO₂-based nanosystem for cancer therapy and antimicrobial treatment: A review

In recent years, titanium dioxide (TiO₂), one of the most vital and classical metal oxides, has been thoroughly investigated and extensively used in many fields of science and technology owing to its outstanding photo-activity. TiO₂-based nanosystems become the potential candidate which has been widely utilized in cancer therapy and antimicrobial field because of the high photo-therapeutic activity. In this review, the recent advances in TiO₂-based nanosystems for cancer therapy, including photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT) and combination therapy with other strategies, are summarized. The photo-therapies of TiO₂-based nanosystems could be promising alternative strategy for traditional cancer therapies due to the deeper penetration depth and the absence of phototoxicity in clinic. Meanwhile, the frontiers in TiO₂-based nanosystems for bacteria-induced infectious diseases management are introduced and summarized here. This potential therapy could efficiently and effectively eliminate the bacteria, manage the infection, and avoid the microbial drug-resistance. Finally, the challenges for the future development of TiO₂-based nanosystems in biomedical applications are concluded and discussed. Collectively, we think that TiO₂-based nanosystems could be potentially applied in clinical fields to promote the improvement of cancer and infections treatments.