Insights into Gold Nanoparticles Possibilities for Diagnosis and Treatment of the Head and Neck Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancers

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The application of nanotechnology in medicine has caught the scientific community’s attention. Nevertheless, staying updated about its countless possibilities has become a challenge. Regarding novelties in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer, gold nanoparticles have the opportunity to play an important role in nanomedicine. The literature’s findings have provided insights into their applications for research and procedures in oncology. Thus, gold nanoparticles can improve patients’ quality of life and may change paradigms in this field. Therefore, a state-of-the-art review may help clinicians, students, researchers, and readers to keep up with the advances in managing upper aerodigestive tract tumors through gold nanoparticle properties. ABSTRACT: Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer affecting people and accounts for more than 300,000 deaths worldwide. Improvements in treatment modalities, including immunotherapy, have demonstrated promising prognoses for eligible patients. Nevertheless, the five-year overall survival rate has not increased significantly, and the tumor recurrence ratio remains at 50% or higher, except for patients with HPV-positive HNSCC. Over the last decades, nanotechnology has provided promising tools, especially for biomedical applications, due to some remarkable physicochemical properties of numerous nanomaterials, particularly gold nanoparticles. This review addresses the features and some applications of gold nanoparticles reported in the literature over the last five years regarding the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer, highlighting the exciting possibilities of this nanomaterial in oncology. Methods: The scientific papers selected for this review were obtained from the PubMed Advanced, Web of Science, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar platforms. Conclusions: Results from papers applying gold nanoparticles have suggested that their application is a feasible approach to diagnostics, prognostics, and the treatment of HNC. Moreover, phase I clinical trials suggest that gold nanoparticles are safe and can potentially become theranostic agents for humans.