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The blooming of nanotechnology has made available a limitless landscape of solutions responding to crucial issues in many fields and, nowadays, a wide choice of nanotechnology-based strategies can be adopted to circumvent the limitations of conventional therapies for cancer. Herein, the current stage of nanotechnological applications for cancer management is summarized encompassing the core nanomaterials as well as the available chemical–physical approaches for their surface functionalization and drug ligands as possible therapeutic agents. The use of nanomaterials as vehicles to delivery various therapeutic substances is reported emphasizing advantages, such as the high drug loading, the enhancement of the pay-load half-life and bioavailability. Particular attention was dedicated to highlight the importance of nanomaterial intrinsic features. Indeed, the ability of combining the properties of the transported drug with the ones of the nano-sized carrier can lead to multifunctional theranostic tools. In this view, fluorescence of carbon quantum dots, optical properties of gold nanoparticle and superparamagnetism of iron oxide nanoparticles, are fundamental examples. Furthermore, smart anticancer devices can be developed by conjugating enzymes to nanoparticles, as in the case of bovine serum amine oxidase (BSAO) and gold nanoparticles. The present review is aimed at providing an overall vision on nanotechnological strategies to face the threat of human cancer, comprising opportunities and challenges.