Progress on Aptamer for Cancer Theranostics

Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides selected through a process known as Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential enrichment (SELEX), showing a high selectivity towards their target molecules. The selectivity and affinity of aptamers are comparable to antibodies and even higher. They have the advantages of multiple targets, low immunogenicity, ease of accurate synthesis and modification, flexible and controllable design, which endow them as new molecular tools for early screening, diagnosis and targeting therapy. Therefore, aptamers have attracted extensive attention and have been applied in the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment. This review focused on the applications of aptamers in cancer diagnosis and treatment, and summarized systematically the research progresses made in recent years and discussed the prospective of the future development.