Recent advances in applying nanotechnologies for cancer immunotherapy

Armouring the Immune System: Future Prospects of Nanomedicine in Cancer Immunotherapy

“…Another approach to immunotherapy involves the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to target immune checkpoints, such as receptors found on immune cells. Such mechanism could block immunosuppression from Treg, improve the anti-tumour immune response, and prevent cancer progression [7]. Examples of widely used mAbs include anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1, also known as Ipilimumab and Nivolumab, respectively [7].…”

“…Such mechanism could block immunosuppression from Treg, improve the anti-tumour immune response, and prevent cancer progression [7]. Examples of widely used mAbs include anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1, also known as Ipilimumab and Nivolumab, respectively [7]. However, there have been several limitations recognized with the use of mAbs alone, such as inadequate pharmacokinetics, limited access to cancerous cells due to the tumour microenvironment, and the need for frequent dosages [6,7].…”

“…Examples of widely used mAbs include anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1, also known as Ipilimumab and Nivolumab, respectively [7]. However, there have been several limitations recognized with the use of mAbs alone, such as inadequate pharmacokinetics, limited access to cancerous cells due to the tumour microenvironment, and the need for frequent dosages [6,7]. The application of nanotechnology can overcome these limitations by improving the stability of the antibody in vivo, protection from degradation, localising the delivery to the tumour site and reducing the toxic side e↵ects [8,9].…”

Functional Nanomaterials Optimized to Circumvent Tumor Immunological Tolerance

“…Traditional vaccines showed limited efficiency in eliciting tumor‐specific immune response, potentially due to antigen degradation, elimination, and insufficient cross‐presentation . And the endogenous tumor antigen with low immunogenicity has been shown to lead to immunological tolerance in tumor microenvironments because only about 10% of the neoantigens can bind MHC I molecules with high affinity . Nanomaterials can be designed to coencapsulate antigens and adjuvants in a single particle, and the materials can protect antigens from being rapidly degraded, allowing for the release of cargo in a sustained manner .…”

Dual targeted and pH-responsive gold nanorods with improved chemotherapy and photothermal ablation for synergistic cancer treatment

“…Cancer has become one of the major threats to human health. 1 Although current treatments such as surgical intervention, radiotherapy and chemotherapy can provide signicant bene-ts, they can also cause collateral damage to surrounding tissues and adverse side-effects in patients. 2,3 Development of highly integrated strategies for precise and efficient therapy of cancer has attracted much attention in the past decades.…”