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.