Smart nanoparticles improve therapy for drugresistant tumors by overcoming pathophysiological barriers
Abstract
The therapeutic outcome of chemotherapy is severely limited by intrinsic or acquired drug resistance, the most common causes of
chemotherapy failure. In the past few decades, advancements in nanotechnology have provided alternative strategies for combating
tumor drug resistance. Drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) have several advantages over the free drug forms, including reduced
cytotoxicity, prolonged circulation in the blood and increased accumulation in tumors. Currently, however, nanoparticulate drugs have
only marginally improved the overall survival rate in clinical trials because of the various pathophysiological barriers that exist in the
tumor microenvironment, such as intratumoral distribution, penetration and intracellular trafficking, etc. Smart NPs with stimulusadaptable
physico-chemical properties have been extensively developed to improve the therapeutic efficacy of nanomedicine. In
this review, we summarize the recent advances of employing smart NPs to treat the drug-resistant tumors by overcoming the
pathophysiological barriers in the tumor microenvironment.
Keywords:
solid tumors; chemotherapy; drug resistance; pathophysiological barriers; tumor microenvironment; nanomedicine; smart nanoparticles
chemotherapy failure. In the past few decades, advancements in nanotechnology have provided alternative strategies for combating
tumor drug resistance. Drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) have several advantages over the free drug forms, including reduced
cytotoxicity, prolonged circulation in the blood and increased accumulation in tumors. Currently, however, nanoparticulate drugs have
only marginally improved the overall survival rate in clinical trials because of the various pathophysiological barriers that exist in the
tumor microenvironment, such as intratumoral distribution, penetration and intracellular trafficking, etc. Smart NPs with stimulusadaptable
physico-chemical properties have been extensively developed to improve the therapeutic efficacy of nanomedicine. In
this review, we summarize the recent advances of employing smart NPs to treat the drug-resistant tumors by overcoming the
pathophysiological barriers in the tumor microenvironment.