With the economy's globalization and the population's aging, cancer has become the leading cause of death in most countries. While imposing a considerable burden on society, the high morbidity and mortality rates have continuously prompted researchers to develop new oncology treatment options. Anti-tumor regimens have evolved from early single surgical treatment to combined (or not) chemoradiotherapy and then to the current stage of tumor immunotherapy. Tumor immunotherapy has undoubtedly pulled some patients back from the death. However, this strategy of activating or boosting the body's immune system hardly benefits most patients. It is limited by low bioavailability, low response rate and severe side effects. Thankfully, the rapid development of nanotechnology has broken through the bottleneck problem of anti-tumor immunotherapy. Multifunctional nanomaterials can not only kill tumors by combining anti-tumor drugs but also can be designed to enhance the body's immunity and thus achieve a multi-treatment effect. It is worth noting that the variety of nanomaterials, their modifiability, and the diversity of combinations allow them to shine in antitumor immunotherapy. In this paper, several nanobiotics commonly used in tumor immunotherapy at this stage are discussed, and they activate or enhance the body's immunity with their unique advantages. In conclusion, we reviewed recent advances in tumor immunotherapy based on nanomaterials, such as biological cell membrane modification, self-assembly, mesoporous, metal and hydrogels, to explore new directions and strategies for tumor immunotherapy.
Bladder cancer (BCa) is the most costly solid tumor owing to its high recurrence. Relapsed cancer is known to acquire chemoresistant features after standard intravesical chemotherapy. This cancer state is vulnerable to ferroptosis, which occurs when lipid peroxides generated by iron metabolism accumulate to lethal levels. Increasing the labile iron pool (LIP) by iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) promises to inhibit chemoresistant BCa (CRBCa), but systemically administered IONPs do not sufficiently accumulate at the tumor site. Therefore, their efficacy is weakened. Here, we present a three-tier delivery strategy through a mucoadhesive hydrogel platform conveying hyaluronic acid-coated IONPs (IONP−HA). When instilled, the hydrogel platform first adhered to the interface of the tumor surface, sustainably releasing IONP−HA. Subsequently, the tumor stiffness and interstitial fluid pressure were reduced by photothermal therapy, promoting IONP−HA diffusion into the deep cancer tissue. As CRBCa expressed high levels of CD44, the last delivery tier was achieved through antibody-mediated endocytosis to increase the LIP, ultimately inducing ferroptosis. This three-tiered strategy delivered the IONPs stepwise from anatomical to cellular levels and increased the iron content by up to 50-fold from that of systematic administration, which presents a potential regimen for CRBCa.
The application of nanomaterials in healthcare has emerged as a promising strategy due to their unique structural diversity, surface properties, and compositional diversity. In particular, they have found a significant role in improving drug delivery and inhibiting the growth and metastasis of tumor cells. Moreover, recent studies have highlighted their potential in modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME) and enhancing the activity of immune cells to improve tumor therapy efficacy. Various types of nanomaterials are currently utilized as drug carriers, immunosuppressants, immune activators, immunoassay reagents, and more for tumor immunotherapy. Necessarily, nanomaterials used for tumor immunotherapy can be grouped into two categories: organic and inorganic nanomaterials. Though both have shown the ability to achieve the purpose of tumor immunotherapy, their composition and structural properties result in differences in their mechanisms and modes of action. Organic nanomaterials can be further divided into organic polymers, cell membranes, nanoemulsion‐modified, and hydrogel forms. At the same time, inorganic nanomaterials can be broadly classified as nonmetallic and metallic nanomaterials. The current review aims to explore the mechanisms of action of these different types of nanomaterials and their prospects for promoting tumor immunotherapy.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Cancer represents the leading global driver of death and is recognized as a critical obstacle to increasing life expectancy. In recent years, with the development of precision medicine, significant progress has been made in cancer treatment. Among them, various therapies developed with the help of the immune system have succeeded in clinical treatment, recognizing and killing cancer cells by stimulating or enhancing the body’s intrinsic immune system. However, low response rates and serious adverse effects, among others, have limited the use of immunotherapy. It also poses problems such as drug resistance and hyper-progression. Fortunately, thanks to the rapid development of nanotechnology, engineered multifunctional nanomaterials and biomaterials have brought breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapy. Unlike conventional cancer immunotherapy, nanomaterials can be rationally designed to trigger specific tumor-killing effects. Simultaneously, improved infiltration of immune cells into metastatic lesions enhances the efficiency of antigen submission and induces a sustained immune reaction. Such a strategy directly reverses the immunological condition of the primary tumor, arrests metastasis and inhibits tumor recurrence through postoperative immunotherapy. This paper discusses several types of nanoscale biomaterials for cancer immunotherapy, and they activate the immune system through material-specific advantages to provide novel therapeutic strategies. In summary, this article will review the latest advances in tumor immunotherapy based on self-assembled, mesoporous, cell membrane modified, metallic, and hydrogel nanomaterials to explore diverse tumor therapies.
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