Nanocarrier-mediated cancer therapy: New advances in immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy
A review in Chinese Medical Journal highlights how nanoplatforms improve targeting, efficacy, and safety in oncology treatments
image: The figure encompasses key information, including trade names, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and nanoparticles (NPs) materials, regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) of South Korea, and the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China, as well as approval years and indications.
Credit: Chinese Medical Journal
Cancer remains a global health crisis, with 20 million new cases and 9.7 million deaths worldwide in 2022, per the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Traditional treatments—surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy—have limitations: surgery leaves residual cells, chemotherapy harms healthy tissues, and radiotherapy lacks specificity. Emerging therapies like targeted or immunotherapy also face resistance and low response rates.
Nanomedicine offers a solution. Published in Volume 138, Issue 16 of the Chinese Medical Journal, on August 20, 2025, the review led by multiple researchers highlights nanocarriers’ ability to deliver drugs specifically to tumors, control release, and modulate the tumor microenvironment (TME). These nanoplatforms use the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect for passive accumulation and ligand modification for active targeting, boosting efficacy while reducing systemic toxicity.
The review categorizes key nanocarriers: polymeric (e.g., Genexol-PM for breast cancer), lipidic (e.g., Doxil® for Kaposi’s sarcoma), biomembrane-based (using red blood cell membranes for long circulation), albumin-based (Abraxane® for pancreatic cancer), peptide, DNA origami, and inorganic nanoparticles. Each type has unique strengths—for example, DNA nanostructures offer precise design, while inorganic ones aid imaging and phototherapy.
In applications, nanocarriers enhance immunotherapy by delivering vaccines (mRNA, peptide) and reprogramming TME immune cells. They improve chemotherapy by solving drug solubility issues and targeting tumors. For radiotherapy, they act as sensitizers, increasing radiation absorption and reducing healthy tissue damage; phototherapy uses nanomaterials to convert light into heat or reactive oxygen to kill tumors.
Despite progress, challenges remain: scaling production, ensuring long-term biosafety, and cutting costs. The authors call for integrating nanotechnology with CAR-T or gene editing to advance precision oncology.
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About the Author
Prof. Suping Li
CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials & Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
Funding information
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82472141) and the CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research (No. YSBR-036).