Applying nanotherapeutics to improve chemoradiotherapy treatment for cancer

Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) plays a key role in the curative treatment of many human cancers. The full utility of this paradigm is often restricted by limitations of conventional drug delivery. Nanotherapeutics have demonstrated great potential to overcome many of these issues. The potential benefits of nanotherapeutics in CRT include improved therapeutic efficacy, decreased toxicity, enhanced real-time in vivo tumor imaging, and the translation of novel small molecule drugs or nucleic acid therapies. Additionally, nanomedicines and radiation therapy exert distinct and complementary effects on the tumor microenvironment which can further enhance therapeutic efficacy compared with either modality alone. In this review, we highlight specific clinical and preclinical examples which demonstrate the potential benefits of nanotherapeutics in CRT.