Nanotechnology-enabled Chemodynamic Therapy and Immunotherapy

Abstract

High-level reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been reported to exert a robust anti-tumor effect by inducing cell apoptosis or necroptosis. Based on the Fenton reaction or Fenton-like reaction, a therapeutic strategy (i.e., chemodynamic therapy (CDT)) is proposed, where hydroxyl radicals (·OH) are one of the ROS that can be produced to kill tumors via the spontaneous activation by an endogenous stimulus. Moreover, high-level ROS can also facilitate tumor-associated antigen exposure, which benefits phagocytosis of corpses and debris by antigen-presenting cells (e.g., dendritic cells (DCs)) and further activates systematic immune responses. Great efforts have been made, wherein the development in the field of nanotechnology has been witnessed by the interdisciplinary communities. For providing a comprehensive understanding of CDT, state-of-theart strategies on nanotechnology-enabled CDT have been discussed in detail in this study. In particular, the combination of CDT with its augmented immunotherapy against tumors has been highlighted for overcoming the poor outcome of the mono-CDT. Moreover, the potential challenges have also been discussed.

Keywords: Reactive oxygen species; chemodynamic therapy; dendritic cells (DCs).; immunotherapy; nanotechnology; synergistic therapy.