Surface engineered gold nanorods: intelligent delivery system for cancer therapy

Abstract Cancer is a major public health concern that has motivated the scientists to discover adjunctive or substitutes to standard treatments like radiation therapy, surgery, and chemotherapy. The progression of new techniques to improve diagnosis, screening, and treatment of cancer is an area of dire interest for crafting potent and safe treatment strategies. In more recent years, gold nanostructures of various shapes and sizes have gained great interest and advancements in their synthesis, characterization, and application have been achieved in the form of gold nanospheres, nanoshells, nanocages, and gold nanorods. This chapter reviews designing of gold nanorods for cancer therapy and diagnosis with emphasis on cancer, its complications, and treatment strategies.