**5. Conclusions and future perspectives**

GQDs hold great promise as a platform for multifunctional drug/gene delivery as well as an excellent tool for quality bioimaging. Current studies of drug delivery systems based on nanotechnology are expected to facilitate advanced forms of this kind of delivery. However, they are currently limited by the lack of preclinical pharmacological and toxicological studies, and their unknown biosafety and biocompatibility. A detailed understanding of how GQDs interact with blood components, the immune system, and aspects related to ADME processes is of vital importance. If the regulatory requirements requested by pharmacovigilance agencies are not addressed and resolved, the biotechnological and biomedical potential of GQDs cannot be employed in clinical studies. There is no doubt that, in the past decade, there have been great advances in drug delivery methods. GQD platforms have advantages over other platforms, including their surface area, size variability, their ability to functionalize with different ligands, and their photothermal and photodynamic properties. All these features make these platforms into ideal tools, not only as intelligent and multifunctional platforms for cancer therapy but also to monitor drug delivery and therapeutic effectiveness via their fluorescent emission. All these qualities could open up new pathways toward improved technological knowledge on nanoparticle-based therapies, particularly those aimed at a variety of cancers currently affecting the human population.
