Cytokine Therapy Combined with Nanomaterials Participates in Cancer Immunotherapy

Nanocarriers for cutting-edge cancer immunotherapies

Cancer immunotherapy aims to harness the body's own immune system for effective and long-lasting elimination of malignant neoplastic tissues. Owing to the advance in understanding of cancer pathology and immunology, many novel strategies for enhancing immunological responses against various cancers have been successfully developed, and some have translated into excellent clinical outcomes. As one promising strategy for the next generation of immunotherapies, activating the multi-cellular network (MCN) within the tumor microenvironment (TME) to deploy multiple mechanisms of action (MOAs) has attracted significant attention. To achieve this effectively and safely, delivering multiple or pleiotropic therapeutic cargoes to the targeted sites of cancerous tissues, cells, and intracellular organelles is critical, for which numerous nanocarriers have been developed and leveraged. In this review, we first introduce therapeutic payloads categorized according to their predicted functions in cancer immunotherapy and their physicochemical structures and forms. Then, various nanocarriers, along with their unique characteristics, properties, advantages, and limitations, are introduced with notable recent applications in cancer immunotherapy. Following discussions on targeting strategies, a summary of each nanocarrier matching with suitable therapeutic cargoes is provided with comprehensive background information for designing cancer immunotherapy regimens.

Present and future of cancer nano-immunotherapy: opportunities, obstacles and challenges

Clinically, multimodal therapies are adopted worldwide for the management of cancer, which continues to be a leading cause of death. In recent years, immunotherapy has firmly established itself as a new paradigm in cancer care that activates the body's immune defense to cope with cancer. Immunotherapy has resulted in significant breakthroughs in the treatment of stubborn tumors, dramatically improving the clinical outcome of cancer patients. Multiple forms of cancer immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), adoptive cell therapy and cancer vaccines, have become widely available. However, the effectiveness of these immunotherapies is not much satisfying. Many cancer patients do not respond to immunotherapy, and disease recurrence appears to be unavoidable because of the rapidly evolving resistance. Moreover, immunotherapies can give rise to severe off-target immune-related adverse events. Strategies to remove these hindrances mainly focus on the development of combinatorial therapies or the exploitation of novel immunotherapeutic mediations. Nanomaterials carrying anticancer agents to the target site are considered as practical approaches for cancer treatment. Nanomedicine combined with immunotherapies offers the possibility to potentiate systemic antitumor immunity and to facilitate selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells in an effective and safe manner. A myriad of nano-enabled cancer immunotherapies are currently under clinical investigation. Owing to gaps between preclinical and clinical studies, nano-immunotherapy faces multiple challenges, including the biosafety of nanomaterials and clinical trial design. In this review, we provide an overview of cancer immunotherapy and summarize the evidence indicating how nanomedicine-based approaches increase the efficacy of immunotherapies. We also discuss the key challenges that have emerged in the era of nanotechnology-based cancer immunotherapy. Taken together, combination nano-immunotherapy is drawing increasing attention, and it is anticipated that the combined treatment will achieve the desired success in clinical cancer therapy.

CAR T Cell Nanosymbionts: Revealing the Boundless Potential of a New Dyad

Cancer treatment has traditionally focused on eliminating tumor cells but faces challenges such as resistance and toxicity. A promising direction involves targeting the tumor microenvironment using CAR T cell immunotherapy, which has shown potential for treating relapsed and refractory cancers but is limited by high costs, resistance, and toxicity, especially in solid tumors. The integration of nanotechnology into ICAM cell therapy, a concept we have named "CAR T nanosymbiosis", offers new opportunities to overcome these challenges. Nanomaterials can enhance CAR T cell delivery, manufacturing, activity modulation, and targeting of the tumor microenvironment, providing better control and precision. This approach aims to improve the efficacy of CAR T cells against solid tumors, reduce associated toxicities, and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. Several studies have shown promising results, and developing this therapy further is essential for increasing its accessibility and effectiveness. Our "addition by subtraction model" synthesizes these multifaceted elements into a unified strategy to advance cancer treatment paradigms.

Recent advances in polymeric and lipid stimuli-responsive nanocarriers for cell-based cancer immunotherapy

Conventional cancer therapy has major limitations, including non-specificity, unavoidable side effects, low specific tumor accumulation and systemic toxicity. In recent years, more effective and precise treatment methods have been developed, including cell-based immunotherapy. Carriers that can accurately and specifically target cells and equip them to combat cancer cells are particularly important for developing this therapy. As a result, attention has been drawn to smart nanocarriers that can react to specific stimuli. Thus, stimuli-responsive nanocarriers have attracted increasing attention because they can change their physicochemical properties in response to stimulus conditions, such as pH, enzymes, redox agents, hypoxia, light and temperature. This review highlights recent advances in various stimuli-responsive nanocarriers, discussing loading, targeted delivery, cellular uptake, biocompatibility and immunomodulation in cell-based immunotherapy. Finally, future challenges and perspectives regarding the possible clinical translation of nanocarriers are discussed.

Nanomedicine for cancer patient-centered care

Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and an increase in incidence is estimated in the next future, due to population aging, which requires the development of highly tolerable and low-toxicity cancer treatment strategies. The use of nanotechnology to tailor treatments according to the genetic and immunophenotypic characteristics of a patient's tumor, and to allow its targeted release, can meet this need, improving the efficacy of treatment and minimizing side effects. Nanomedicine-based approach for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer is a rapidly evolving field. Several nanoformulations are currently in clinical trials, and some have been approved and marketed. However, their large-scale production and use are still hindered by an in-depth debate involving ethics, intellectual property, safety and health concerns, technical issues, and costs. Here, we survey the key approaches, with specific reference to organ-on chip technology, and cutting-edge tools, such as CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, through which nanosystems can meet the needs for personalized diagnostics and therapy in cancer patients. An update is provided on the nanopharmaceuticals approved and marketed for cancer therapy and those currently undergoing clinical trials. Finally, we discuss the emerging avenues in the field and the challenges to be overcome for the transfer of nano-based precision oncology into clinical daily life.

Targeted nanomedicine for reprogramming the tumor innate immune system: From bench to bedside

Tumor-associated innate immune cells such as tumor-associated macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells play a crucial role in tumor progression, angiogenesis and metastasis. These cells also control the efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy by inducing drug resistance and immunosuppression, leading to therapeutic failures. Therefore, targeting the tumor-associated innate immune cells has gained high attention for the development of effective cancer therapy. Nanomedicine based strategies to target these cells are highly relevant and can be used to reprogram these cells. In this review, we discuss the fundamental roles of the tumor-associated innate immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and different strategies to modulate them. Then, nanomedicine-based strategies to target different tumor innate immune cells are explained in detail. While the clinical development of the targeted nanomedicine remains a great challenge in practice, we have provided our perspectives on various factors such as pharmaceutical aspects, preclinical testing and biological aspects which are crucial to consider before translating these targeting strategies to clinics.

Functional inorganic nanoparticles in cancer: Biomarker detection, imaging, and therapy

Cancer poses a major global public health challenge. Developing more effective early diagnosis methods and efficient treatment techniques is crucial to enhance early detection sensitivity and treatment outcomes. Nanomaterials offer sensitive, accurate, rapid, and straightforward approaches for cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment. Inorganic nanoparticles are widely used in medicine because of their high stability, large specific surface area, unique surface properties, and unique quantum size effects. Functional inorganic nanoparticles involve modifying inorganic nanoparticles to enhance their physical properties, enrichment capabilities, and drug-loading efficiency and to minimize toxicity. This Review provides an overview of various types of inorganic nanoparticles and their functionalization characteristics. We then discuss the progress of functional inorganic nanoparticles in cancer biomarker detection and imaging. Furthermore, we discuss the application of functional inorganic nanoparticles in radiotherapy, chemotherapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, sonodynamic therapy, and combination therapy, highlighting their characteristics and advantages. Finally, the toxicity and potential challenges of functional inorganic nanoparticles are analyzed. The purpose of this Review is to explore the application of functional inorganic nanoparticles in diagnosing and treating cancers, while also presenting a new avenue for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The cytokines in tumor microenvironment: from cancer initiation-elongation-progression to metastatic outgrowth

It is a well-known fact that cancer can be augmented by infections and inflammation. In fact, chronic inflammation establishes a tumor-supporting-microenvironment (TME), which contributes to neoplastic progression. Presently, extensive research is going on to establish the interrelationship between infection, inflammation, immune response, and cancer. Cytokines are the most essential components in this linkage, which are secreted by immune cells and stromal cells of TME. Cytokines have potential involvement in tumor initiation, elongation, progression, metastatic outgrowth, angiogenesis, and development of therapeutic resistance. They are also linked with increased cancer symptoms along with reduced quality of life in advanced cancer patients. The cancer patients experience multiple symptoms including pain, asthenia, fatigue, anorexia, cachexia, and neurodegenerative disorders etc. Anti-cancer therapeutics can be developed by targeting cytokines along with TME to reduce the immunocompromised state and also modulate the TME. This review article depicts the composition and function of different inflammatory cells within the TME, more precisely the role of cytokines in cancer initiation, elongation, and progression as well as the clinical effects in advanced cancer patients. It also provides an overview of different natural compounds, nanoparticles, and chemotherapeutic agents that can target cytokines along with TME, which finally pave the way for cytokines-targeted anti-cancer therapeutics.

Polymer-mediated nanoformulations: a promising strategy for cancer immunotherapy

Engineering polymer-based nano-systems have attracted many researchers owing to their unique qualities like shape, size, porosity, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Both natural and synthetic polymers can be tuned to get desired surface chemistry and functionalization to improve the efficacy of cancer therapy by promoting targeted delivery to the tumor site. Recent advancements in cancer immunoediting have been able to manage both primary tumor and metastatic lesions via activation of the immune system. The combinations of nano-biotechnology and immunotherapeutic agents have provided positive outcomes by enhancing the host immune response in cancer therapy. The nanoparticles have been functionalized using antibodies, targeted antigens, small molecule ligands, and other novel agents that can interact with biological systems at nanoscale levels. Several polymers, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), and chitosan, have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical use in biomedicine. The polymeric nanoformulations such as polymers-antibody/antigen conjugates and polymeric drug conjugates are currently being explored as nanomedicines that can target cancer cells directly or target immune cells to promote anti-cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we focus on scientific developments and advancements on engineered polymeric nano-systems in conjugation with immunotherapeutic agents targeting the tumor microenvironment to improve their efficacy and the safety for better clinical outcomes.