Dextran-engineered smart nanosystems for intelligent tumor drug targeting

Cancer therapy increasingly relies on nanoscale delivery systems that exploit interfacial and colloidal phenomena to enhance drug bioavailability, stability, and selectivity. Dextran-based nanocarriers have attracted considerable attention as multifunctional drug delivery platforms due to their inherent hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and facile chemical modifiability. From a colloid and interface science perspective, dextran nanoparticles (DNPs) exhibit tunable physicochemical properties, including particle size, surface charge, and hydration shell characteristics, which critically influence their stability, biodistribution, and tumor accumulation. Recent advances in DNP engineering have enabled the development of stimuli-responsive, ligand-functionalized, and hybrid nanostructures that integrate precise control over interfacial interactions with biological systems. These smart systems facilitate targeted accumulation in the tumor microenvironment through both passive and active mechanisms, promoting enhanced cellular internalization and controlled drug release in response to pH, redox, or enzymatic stimuli. Experimental findings demonstrate that optimized DNPs improve therapeutic indices, minimize off-target toxicity, and offer a modular platform for co-delivery of chemotherapeutics and imaging agents. This review critically examines the colloidal behavior, interfacial modification strategies, and structure-function relationships of dextran-based smart nanocarriers in tumor-specific drug delivery. Emphasis is placed on the role of interfacial chemistry, supramolecular assembly, and responsive polymer architectures in mediating precise pharmacological outcomes. The discussion also highlights key challenges and emerging directions for translating dextran nanoplatforms into clinically relevant precision oncology applications.