Classical chemotherapeutic drugs may cause immunogenic cell death (ICD), followed by activating CD8+ T cells to promote cell-mediated antitumor immune responses. However, CD8+ T cells become exhausted due to tumor antigens' continuous stimulation, creating a major obstacle to effectively suppressing tumor growth and metastasis. Here, we develop an approach of chemo-gene combinational nanomedicine to bridge and reprogram chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The dually loaded nanomedicine induces ICD in tumor cells through doxorubicin and reverses the antitumor effects of exhausted CD8+ T cells through the small interfering RNA. The synergistic chemo-gene and fluorine assembly nanomedicine enriched in reactive oxygen species and acid-sensitive bonds results in enhanced cancer immunotherapy to inhibit tumor growth and the lung metastasis of breast cancer in a mouse model of breast cancer and melanoma. This study provides an efficient strategy and insights into chemoimmunological cascade therapy for combating malignant metastatic tumors.
Keywords: T cell exhaustion; chemoimmunological cascade therapy; fluorine assembly; immunogenic cell death; immunotherapy.