Nano-formulated delivery of active ingredients from traditional Chinese herbal medicines for cancer immunotherapy

Qi Shang; Wandong Liu; Faith Leslie; Jiapei Yang; Mingmei Guo; Mingjiao Sun; Guangji Zhang; Qiang Zhang; Feihu Wang

doi:10.1016/j.apsb.2023.12.008

Nano-formulated delivery of active ingredients from traditional Chinese herbal medicines for cancer immunotherapy

Acta Pharm Sin B. 2024 Apr;14(4):1525-1541. doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2023.12.008. Epub 2023 Dec 16.

Authors

Qi Shang¹, Wandong Liu^{2

3}, Faith Leslie⁴, Jiapei Yang¹, Mingmei Guo¹, Mingjiao Sun⁴, Guangji Zhang^{2

3

5}, Qiang Zhang⁶, Feihu Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
² School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Blood-stasis-toxin Syndrome of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310053, China.
⁴ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering, the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
⁵ Traditional Chinese Medicine "Preventing Disease" Wisdom Health Project Research Center of Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310053, China.
⁶ Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and New Drug Delivery Systems, State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.

Abstract

Cancer immunotherapy has garnered promise in tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis through establishing durable and memorable immunological activity. However, low response rates, adverse side effects, and high costs compromise the additional benefits for patients treated with current chemical and biological agents. Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) are a potential treasure trove of natural medicines and are gaining momentum in cancer immunomodulation with multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway characteristics. The active ingredient extracted from CHMs benefit generalized patients through modulating immune response mechanisms. Additionally, the introduction of nanotechnology has greatly improved the pharmacological qualities of active ingredients through increasing the hydrophilicity, stability, permeability, and targeting characteristics, further enhancing anti-cancer immunity. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of active ingredients for cancer immunomodulation, highlight nano-formulated deliveries of active ingredients for cancer immunotherapy, and provide insights into the future applications in the emerging field of nano-formulated active ingredients of CHMs.

Keywords: Active ingredients; Adaptive immune system; Cancer immunotherapy; Chinese herbal medicines; Drug delivery; Innate immune system; Nano-formulation.

Publication types

Review