MXene quantum dots (QDs), with their unique structural, optical, magnetic, and electronic characteristics, are promising contenders for various pharmaceutical and biomedical appliances including biological sensing/imaging, cancer diagnosis/therapy, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, delivery of drugs/genes, and analytical biochemistry. Although functionalized MXene QDs have demonstrated high biocompatibility, superb optical properties, and stability, several challenging issues pertaining to their long-term toxicity, histopathology, biodistribution, biodegradability, and photoluminescence properties are still awaiting systematic study (especially the move towards the practical and clinical phases from the pre-clinical/lab-scale discoveries). The up-scalable and optimized synthesis methods need to be developed not only for the MXene QD-based nanosystems but also for other smart platforms and hybrid nanocomposites encompassing MXenes with vast clinical and biomedical potentials. Enhancing the functionalization strategies, improvement of synthesis methods, cytotoxicity/biosafety evaluations, enriching the biomedical applications, and exploring additional MXene QDs are crucial aspects for developing the smart MXene QD-based nanosystems with improved features. Herein, recent developments concerning the biomedical applications of MXene QDs are underscored with emphasis on current trends and future prospects.

Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Isfahan University of Medical Sciences Isfahan 81746 73461 Iran

Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute Palacký University in Olomouc Šlechtitelů 27 783 71 Olomouc Czech Republic

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MXenes in Cancer Nanotheranostics