Metallic nanomedicine in cancer immunotherapy.
10.1016/j.apsb.2025.07.017
- Author:
Shixuan LI
1
;
Xiaohu WANG
1
;
Huiyun HAN
1
;
Shuting XIANG
1
;
Mingxi LI
1
;
Guangyu LONG
1
;
Yanming XIA
1
;
Qiang ZHANG
2
;
Suxin LI
1
Author Information
1. Department of Pharmaceutics, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China.
2. State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
Biosafety;
Cancer immunotherapy;
Clinical application;
Drug delivery system;
Immune response;
Metallic nanomedicine;
Nanotechnology;
Tumor microenvironment
- From:
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B
2025;15(9):4614-4643
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Immunotherapy has become a pivotal modality in clinical cancer treatment. However, its effectiveness is limited to a small subset of patients due to the low antigenicity, impaired innate response, and various adaptive immune resistance mechanisms of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Accumulating evidence reveals the critical roles of metal elements in shaping immunity against tumor progression and metastasis. The marriage of metalloimmunotherapy and nanotechnology further presents new opportunities to optimize the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of metal ions in a precise spatiotemporal control manner. Several metallodrugs have demonstrated encouraging immunotherapeutic potential in preliminary studies and are currently undergoing clinical trials at different stages, yet challenges persist in scaling up production and addressing long-term biosafety concerns. This review delineates how metal materials modulate biological activities across diverse cell types to orchestrate antitumor immunity. Moreover, it summarizes recent progress in smart drug delivery-release systems integrating metal elements, either as cargo or vehicles, to enhance antitumor immune responses. Finally, the review introduces current clinical applications of nanomedicines in metalloimmunotherapy and discusses potential challenges that impede its widespread translation into clinical practice.
