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Recent Progress in Bio-Responsive Drug Delivery Systems for Tumor Therapy

Xiufeng Cong1, Jun Chen1, Ran Xu2

  • 1Department of Oncology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
|July 18, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Stimulus-responsive drug delivery systems (DDSs) leverage unique tumor microenvironment characteristics for targeted cancer therapy. This approach enhances drug efficacy and reduces systemic toxicity by enabling controlled release at the tumor site.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Nanotechnology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Controlled drug release is crucial for effective cancer therapy.
  • Tumor microenvironments possess unique characteristics like acidosis, hypoxia, and specific biomarkers (ROS, GSH, ATP) that can be exploited.
  • Current drug delivery systems (DDSs) face challenges in achieving spatial and temporal control.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the pathophysiological characteristics of the tumor microenvironment.
  • To highlight recent advances in stimulus-responsive DDSs for cancer therapy.
  • To discuss future directions and challenges in bio-responsive DDS development.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of stimulus-responsive DDSs.
  • Analysis of tumor microenvironment's abnormal pathophysiological features.
  • Synthesis of recent research on DDSs targeting tumor-specific stimuli.

Main Results:

  • Tumor microenvironment stimuli (acidosis, enzymes, hypoxia, ROS, GSH, ATP) enable precise drug release.
  • Responsive DDSs can achieve targeted delivery, reducing dosage and systemic toxicity.
  • Significant progress has been made in designing DDSs that respond to these specific tumor characteristics.

Conclusions:

  • Stimulus-responsive DDSs offer a promising strategy for enhanced cancer therapy.
  • Exploiting tumor microenvironment features allows for more efficient and less toxic drug delivery.
  • Further research is needed to overcome challenges and optimize bio-responsive DDSs for clinical application.
Keywords:
bio-responsivenesscancer therapydrug delivery systempathophysiological characteristicstumor microenvironment

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