尽管在诊断、检测和治疗策略方面取得了长足的进步，但癌症仍被认为是一个巨大的全球健康威胁。这些领域已经取得了显着的进展，但几十年来癌症患者的生存率一直维持在次优水平。认识到需要解决癌症生存率方面持续存在的挑战，人们正在努力推动诊断技术、生物成像和药物输送技术创新的界限。在过去的几年中，基于纳米（生物）技术的方法已应用于生物传感和成像应用，以检测各种基质中的生化物质。在各种纳米工程颗粒中，量子点 (QD) 已被认为是用于这些应用的多功能试剂。量子点通常被称为人造原子，具有显着的光学和电学特性，这对于细胞传感、局部生物成像和治疗至关重要。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了各种量子点作为用于癌细胞精确传感和成像的敏感和选择性试剂。电化学和光学方法均已用于描述细胞传感检测方法。此外，恶性肿瘤细胞的生物成像和量子点治疗反应的药物输送也受到了重视。本综述还列出了此类应用中经常使用的几种量子点，例如碳、石墨烯、锌和其他类型的混合量子点。最后，为了深入了解前瞻性研究，还强调了量子点的优势和潜力。在本文中，我们还强调了量子点在临床应用中的局限性并解决了相关困难，以便为潜在的解决方案提供见解。© 2024 Wiley periodicals LLC。

Cancer is considered a formidable global health threat, despite substantial strides in diagnosis, detection, and therapeutic strategies. Remarkable progress has been achieved in these realms, yet the survival rates for cancer patients have persisted at suboptimal levels over decades. Acknowledging the need to address the ongoing challenges in cancer survival rates, research efforts are being made to push the boundaries of innovation in diagnostic techniques, bioimaging, and drug delivery technologies. Over the past few years, nano(bio)technology-based approaches have been applied for biosensing and imaging applications to detect biochemical substances in various matrices. Among various nanoengineered particulates, quantum dots (QDs) have been recognized as versatile agents for these applications. QDs, often called artificial atoms, are characterized by the remarkable optical and electrical features which are essential for cytosensing, localized bioimaging and therapeutics. Here in this review, we have discussed various QDs as sensitive and selective agents for precise sensing and imaging of cancer cells. Both electrochemical and optical approaches have been used to describe the cytosensing detection methods. Furthermore, the bioimaging of malignant tumor cells and the drug delivery with therapeutic responses of QDs have also been highlighted. This review also lists the several kinds of QDs that are frequently used for such kinds of applications, such as carbon, graphene, zinc, and other types of hybrid-based QDs. Finally, to shed insight on prospective research, the advantages and potential of QDs are also highlighted. In this article, we also emphasize the limitations and address the difficulties associated with QDs in clinical applications in order to provide insights for potential solutions.© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.