Emerging Theranostic Biogenic Silver Nanomaterials for Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

Breast cancer remains the second common cause of cancer death in United State women in 2018. Consequently, it is of growing need to explore new strategies to treat cancer at various stages of breast cancer. This review discussing the efficacy of biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against breast cancer and/or normal cells and its mechanisms of AgNPs toxicity. The research articles were systematically collected through databases including Cochrane, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and Embase. Significantly, most of the studies were carried out on MCF-7 cancer cell line. Furthermore, the general approach was phyto-fabrication of AgNPs. Specifically, a hefty 71.27% of studies employed plants to bio-fabricate AgNPs. Additionally, fungi with 14.89% of the studies were the second predominant resources conducted for synthesis of AgNPs. Majority of studies bio-fabricated spherical AgNPs with an average diameter of less than 100nm. Interestingly,the general approach suggested significant toxic effects of biogenic AgNPs with inhibitory concentration of 50% in breast cancer cell lines, while less toxicity was reported in normal cell lines. Regarding the recent advantages in cancer nanomedicine, it is expected that biogenic AgNPs may emerge as potential breast cancer therapeutic agents alone or in combination with FDA-approved anti-cancer drugs in the near future.