Potential and challenges of graphene in medicine

Abstract

Graphene due to its excellent properties has attracted the great attention in the area of nanomedicine. Due to the high surface area and capability of biofunctionalization graphene provides an efficient platform for drug and gene delivery. Many studies indicate that graphene is an attractive tool for cancer diagnosis and therapy, allowing the improvement of already existing techniques by providing more precision and effectiveness in cancer treatment and also by reducing secondary side effects. Furthermore, graphene is able to induce tissue-specific inductive capabilities which are desirable in tissue engineering and its high biocompatiblity makes it very suitable for the growth and maintenence of adherent cells. In vitro studies show that graphene promotes stem cell growth and differentiation which makes it a valuable nanomaterial in regenerative medicine. However, because of the variety of different forms of graphene and different methods of synthesis, the existing findings regarding graphene toxicity and biological interactions are ambiguous and sometimes even contradictory. The inconsistency of available data and the lack of sufficient information make it hard to fully assess the suitability of graphene as a biomaterial or nanocarrier. Indeed, more systematic and standarized research procedures in graphene production are required. In this chapter we will focus on the possible applications of graphene-based materials in numerous areas of medicine such as cancer therapy, drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering and bioimaging.