Checkpoint immunotherapy that inhibits tumour immune evasion has demonstrated significant clinical success. However, the therapeutic response is limited to certain patient populations, and immunotoxicity as well as autoimmunity have compromised the therapeutic benefits. Here, we report on an inherently therapeutic fucoidan-dextran-based magnetic nanomedicine (IO@FuDex) conjugated with a checkpoint inhibitor (anti-PD-L1) and T-cell activators (anti-CD3 and anti-CD28). IO@FuDex can repair the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment by reinvigorating tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes, while targeting the nanomedicine via magnetic navigation to the tumour to minimize off-target effects. Treatment that combines IO@FuDex and magnetic navigation reduces the occurrence of adverse events and extends the median survival from 32 to 63 days with less than 1 per cent dose compared with soluble anti-PD-L1. Thus, we demonstrate the potential of integrating anti-PD-L1 and T-cell activators as a form of inherently therapeutic nanomedicine to augment the therapeutic index of combination checkpoint immunotherapy.

Iron-oxide-containing double emulsion capsules carrying both hydrophilic and hydrophobic therapeutic molecules can deliver drugs and energy on demand in vivo. Magneto-chemotherapy/hyperthermia involves a burst-like release of hydrophilic doxorubicin and hydrophobic paclitaxel, remotely triggered by a high frequency magnetic field, which also releases energy via internalized iron oxide nanoparticles, all contributing to cell kill.

A novel magnetically guidable nanobubble is designed for disrupting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) by combining magnetic guidance with focused ultrasound in vivo. The magnetic-nanobubble platform also demonstrates the potential to serve as a unique theranostic tool via performing focused ultrasound (FUS)-induced BBB disruption and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/ultrasound dual-modality contrast-agent imaging to improve the drug delivery of therapeutic substances or gene therapy into the central nervous system.

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Cancer immunotherapy is a cutting‐edge strategy that eliminates cancer cells by amplifying the host's immune system. However, the low response rate and risks of inducing systemic toxicity have raised uncertainty in the treatment. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as a versatile theranostic tool can be used to target delivery of multiple immunotherapeutics and monitor cell/tissue responses. These capabilities enable the real‐time characterization of the factors that contribute to immunoactivity so that future treatments can be optimized. The magnetic properties of MNPs further allow the implementation of magnetic navigation and magnetic hyperthermia for boosting the efficacy of immunotherapy. The multimodal approach opens an avenue to induce robust immune responses, minimize safety issues, and monitor immune activities simultaneously. Thus, the object of this review is to provide an overview of the burgeoning fields and to highlight novel technologies for next‐generation immunotherapy. The review further correlates the properties of MNPs with the latest treatment strategies to explore the crosstalk between magnetic nanomaterials and the immune system. This comprehensive review of MNP‐derived immunotherapy covers the obstacles and opportunities for future development and clinical translation.

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Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cisplatin, CDDP) is one of the most potent chemotherapy agents, but its side effects toward normal tissues, particularly toxicity in the kidney and nonspecific biodistribution, limit its ability to have significant clinical activity against a variety of solid tumors. A magnetic CDDP-encapsulated nanocapsule (CDDP-PAA-NC) with CDDP-polyacrylic acid (PAA) core in amphiphilic polyvinyl alcohol/superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles shell is synthesized through a double emulsion to provide both high loading efficiency and controlled drug release. The CDDP-PAA-NCs significantly increase the blood circulation time of CDDP in vivo, with nearly 100-fold higher concentration, and drastically reduce side effects, including nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity, compared with the delivery of free CDDP. Furthermore, with a magnetic targeting effect, the CDDP-PAA-NCs show ninefold higher level accumulation in tumor tissue than the free CDDP treatment when administered at the equivalent dose, and mice treated with the CDDP-PAA-NCs display approximately 3.5-fold lower tumor volume than those of the control group on day 24. This result demonstrates that the magnetic CDDP-PAA-NCs, which are synthesized using a facile emulsion process, can significantly reduce toxicity and exhibit anticancer activity in A549-tumor bearing mice with negligible side effects.