Mengjie Xie,1,* Fansu Meng,2,* Panpan Wang,3,* Alicia Marcelina Díaz-García,4 Marina Parkhats,5 Ralph Santos-Oliveira,6 Mulazim Hussain Asim,7 Nazish Bostan,8 Honghui Gu,9 Lina Yang,9 Qi Li,9 Zhenjiang Yang,9 Haibiao Lai,2 Yu Cai1 

1State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Ministry of Education (MOE) of China / Guangdong Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Informatization / International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Guangdong Province/School of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632, People’s Republic of China; 2Zhongshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhongshan, Guangdong, 528400, People’s Republic of China; 3The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632, People’s Republic of China; 4Bioinorganic Laboratory, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Havana, Havana, 1400, Cuba; 5B. I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, 220072, Belarus; 6Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission, Nuclear Engineering Institute, Laboratory of Nanoradiopharmacy and Synthesis of New Radiopharmaceuticals, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941906, Brazil; 7College of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Punjab, 40100, Pakistan; 8Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan; 9Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518033, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Yu Cai; Haibiao Lai, Email caiyu8@sohu.com; lhb8829@163.com

Abstract: Data published in 2020 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization show that breast cancer (BC) has become the most common cancer globally, affecting more than 2 million women each year. The complex tumor microenvironment, drug resistance, metastasis, and poor prognosis constitute the primary challenges in the current diagnosis and treatment of BC. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONPs) have emerged as a promising nanoplatform for diagnostic tumor imaging as well as therapeutic drug-targeted delivery due to their unique physicochemical properties. The extensive surface engineering has given rise to multifunctionalized MIONPs. In this review, the latest advancements in surface modification strategies of MIONPs over the past five years are summarized and categorized as constrast agents and drug delivery platforms. Additionally, the remaining challenges and future prospects of MIONPs-based targeted delivery are discussed.

Keywords: Nanopreparations, Organic Nanomaterials, Inorganic Nanomaterials, Surface Engineering, Targeted Delivery