Will the lessons learned from cancer nanomedicine facilitate the clinical translation of nanomedicine beyond cancer?

A few decades ago the emergence of cancer nanomedicine created unprecedented hopes among all stakeholders (especially patients) for curing cancer and many funding agencies established new centers and sources to support research projects in the field. For example, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) established the Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNEs) in late 2004 [1]. The media also offered much hope – not to say hype – to patients and their families and many people believed the coming years would see dramatic reductions in cancer mortality and huge improvements in quality of life for cancer patients through advancements in...