Conjugated Poly/­Oligo-Electrolytes for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

Although the earliest description of cancer dates back to ancient Egypt and extraordinary efforts have been devoted toward understanding its underlying physiological mechanisms and providing different treatment options, ^{1 , 2} the word “cancer” remains associated with an incurable disease that causes misery, fear, and long lasting family trauma. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States and is exceeded only by heart disease. According to an estimate by the American Cancer Society, more than 1,680,000 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2017 and approximately 601,000 Americans will succumb to the disease. ^{3 , 4} Fortunately, due to our increased understanding of the disease and improvements in early detection and therapies, a substantial number of cancer cases can be prevented and the overall death rates continue to decline. The five-year relative survival rate for all cancer combined increased more than 20 percentage points over the past three decades. ^{1 , 2}