New opportunities of stimulus-responsive smart nanocarriers in cancer therapy
Xiaohui Liu, Fang He, Min Liu
Abstract
Achieving precise delivery has always been a key challenge in the development of nanomedicine to treat cancer. Intelligent stimulus-responsive nanocarriers imbued with fascinating features such as excellent targeting ability, high drug loading capacity, and targeted on-demand release emerging as an attractive tool in cancer therapy. Given the intricacy of the dynamic intracellular and extracellular environment of tumor, different strategies can be employed to design responsive nanomaterials to make them activable upon internal bio-stimuli (pH, redox, and enzymes) or external stimuli (ultrasound, light, temperature, and magnetic), respectively. Simultaneously, by virtue of precisely release at tumor-specific sites, smart nanocarriers have enabled remarkable progress in therapeutics delivery for cancer treatment. In this review, we outline emerging design concepts for elaborately creating novel nanocarriers that respond to internal or external stimuli. And we define critical steps along with the road of preclinical development and propose suggestions to circumvent the obstacle in technology and fabrication for clinical translation. Furthermore, future opportunities across cancer therapy are explored.