Theranostics as a Novel Strategy for Targeted Delivery of Therapeutics: Transport and Fate Mechanism, Challenge, and Opportunities

The target is tagged using a diagnostic radioisotope in nuclear medicine, and therapy is administered when the target’s emergence is confirmed. Using I-131 (RAI) to treat thyroid cancer, theranostic notion was first used in 1964. The nation’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) began to sell additional theranostic radiotracers throughout time. Peptides such as DOTATATE and PSMA are easily accessible in kit form inside the country, while Lu-177 is now manufactured in India. The word “theranostic” refers to a therapeutic approach that incorporates medication with imaging to treat a variety of diseases in a targeted or individualized manner. In order to identify and cure diseases at the cellular and molecular scales, theranostic medicine can attain systemic circulation, elude host defenses, and deliver the medication and diagnostic agents to the targeted place. Target site delivery of therapeutic treatments can be facilitated by theranostics possessing enhanced pharmacokinetic properties, increasing drug efficacy and safety and reducing toxicity. The present chapter deals with various theranostics for targeted drug delivery. It also outlines the current opportunities and challenges.