Development of stimuli responsive polymeric nanomedicines modulating tumor microenvironment for improved cancer therapy

Yuanzhen Su; Guanyu Jin; Huicong Zhou; Zhaofan Yang; Lanqing Wang; Zi Mei; Qionghua Jin; Shixian Lv; Xuesi Chen

doi:10.1515/mr-2022-0048

Development of stimuli responsive polymeric nanomedicines modulating tumor microenvironment for improved cancer therapy

Med Rev (2021). 2023 Mar 17;3(1):4-30. doi: 10.1515/mr-2022-0048. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Yuanzhen Su^{1

2

3}, Guanyu Jin^{2

4}, Huicong Zhou², Zhaofan Yang², Lanqing Wang², Zi Mei², Qionghua Jin⁴, Shixian Lv², Xuesi Chen^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
³ School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

The complexity of the tumor microenvironment (TME) severely hinders the therapeutic effects of various cancer treatment modalities. The TME differs from normal tissues owing to the presence of hypoxia, low pH, and immune-suppressive characteristics. Modulation of the TME to reverse tumor growth equilibrium is considered an effective way to treat tumors. Recently, polymeric nanomedicines have been widely used in cancer therapy, because their synthesis can be controlled and they are highly modifiable, and have demonstrated great potential to remodel the TME. In this review, we outline the application of various stimuli responsive polymeric nanomedicines to modulate the TME, aiming to provide insights for the design of the next generation of polymeric nanomedicines and promote the development of polymeric nanomedicines for cancer therapy.

Keywords: cancer therapy; polymeric nanomedicines; stimuli responsive; tumor microenvironment.

Publication types

Review