Environmental pH-sensitive polymeric micelles for cancer diagnosis and targeted therapy

Abstract

The delivery and control over the release of hydrophobic imaging markers for cancer diagnosis or pharmaceutical agents for targeted therapy are of considerable interest. Nano-sized pH-sensitive polymeric micelles that rely on the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) of vasculature and the low-pH microenvironment in cancer tissue are emerging as stimuli-responsive targeted therapies that can simultaneously release diagnostic and therapeutic agents into a cancerous region. This review focuses on the developments of pH-sensitive polymeric micelles and their biomedical applications in cancer diagnosis and targeted therapy.