Therapeutic Nanoreactors as In Vivo Nanoplatforms for Cancer Therapy

Therapeutic nanoreactors have been proposed as nanoplatforms to treat diseases through in situ production of therapeutic agents. When this treatment strategy is applied in cancer therapy, it can efficiently produce highly toxic anticancer drugs in situ from low-toxic prodrugs or some biomolecules in tumor tissues, which can maximize the therapeutic efficacy with a significantly low systemic toxicity. An ideal therapeutic nanoreactor can provide the reaction space, protect the loaded fragile catalysts, target the desired pathological site, and be selectively activated. In this minireview, we highlight the recent advances concerning the applications of therapeutic nanoreactors as in vivo nanoplatforms particularly in cancer therapy. Herein, the therapeutic nanoreactors are discussed on the basis of treatment strategies and various nanoparticles. Specifically, the treatment strategies of nanoreactors including single enzyme, single enzyme with chemodrugs, and multienzymes, as well as varying types of engineered nanoparticle-loaded active catalysts, primarily including liposomes, polymersomes, polymeric micelles, inorganic nanoparticles, and metal-organic framework (MOF) architectures, are documented and briefly discussed. Finally, we elucidate the current challenges to be addressed toward further development and translation into clinical applications of these therapeutic nanoreactors in cancer therapy.