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Published on: August 2, 2022
The progress and perspective of nanoparticle-enabled tumor metastasis treatment
Wei Zhang1, Fei Wang1, Chuan Hu2
1Department of Orthopedics, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital & Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Affiliated Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chengdu 610072, China.
Abstract:
As one of the most serious threats to human being, cancer is hard to be treated when metastasis happens. What's worse, there are few identified targets of metastasis for drug development. Therefore, it is important to develop strategies to prevent metastasis or treat existed metastasis. This review focuses on the procedure of metastasis, and first summarizes the targeting delivery strategies, including primary tumor targeting drug delivery, tumor metastasis targeting drug delivery and hijacking circulation cells. Then, as a promising treatment, the application of immunotherapy in tumor metastasis treatment is introduced, and strategies that stimulating immune response are reviewed, including chemotherapy, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, ferroptosis, sonodynamic therapy, and nanovaccines. Finally, the challenges and perspective about nanoparticle-enabled tumor metastasis treatment are discussed.
Insights
Preventing and treating cancer metastasis is crucial. This review explores nanoparticle-enabled strategies, including targeted drug delivery and immunotherapy, to combat metastatic cancer effectively.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Nanotechnology
- Drug Delivery
Background:
- Cancer metastasis poses a significant challenge to patient survival.
- Limited drug targets exist for effective metastasis treatment.
- Developing novel strategies to prevent or treat metastasis is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review nanoparticle-enabled strategies for combating cancer metastasis.
- To summarize current approaches in targeted drug delivery for metastasis.
- To explore the application of immunotherapy and related techniques in treating metastatic cancer.
Main Methods:
- Review of targeting delivery strategies: primary tumor targeting, metastasis targeting, and circulation cell hijacking.
- Examination of immunotherapy applications for tumor metastasis.
- Analysis of immune-stimulating strategies: chemotherapy, photothermal, photodynamic, ferroptosis, sonodynamic therapy, and nanovaccines.
Main Results:
- Targeted drug delivery systems show promise in inhibiting metastasis.
- Immunotherapy and various physical/chemical stimulation methods can enhance anti-metastasis immune responses.
- Nanoparticles offer a versatile platform for developing advanced metastasis treatments.
Conclusions:
- Nanoparticle-enabled approaches hold significant potential for treating cancer metastasis.
- Further research is needed to overcome challenges and optimize these therapeutic strategies.
- Integrated strategies combining targeted delivery and immunotherapy are promising for future cancer treatment.

