Cancer immunotherapy from biology to nanomedicine

Salma B Abdelbaky; Mayar Tarek Ibrahim; Hebatallah Samy; Menatalla Mohamed; Hebatallah Mohamed; Mahmoud Mustafa; Moustafa M Abdelaziz; M Laird Forrest; Islam A Khalil

doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.06.025

Cancer immunotherapy from biology to nanomedicine

J Control Release. 2021 Aug 10:336:410-432. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.06.025. Epub 2021 Jun 24.

Authors

Salma B Abdelbaky¹, Mayar Tarek Ibrahim², Hebatallah Samy³, Menatalla Mohamed⁴, Hebatallah Mohamed⁴, Mahmoud Mustafa⁵, Moustafa M Abdelaziz⁶, M Laird Forrest⁷, Islam A Khalil⁸

Affiliations

¹ University of Science and Technology, Zewail City, 6th of October City, Giza 12578, Egypt; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States of America.
² University of Science and Technology, Zewail City, 6th of October City, Giza 12578, Egypt; Department of Chemistry, Center for Scientific Computation, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, United States of America.
³ University of Science and Technology, Zewail City, 6th of October City, Giza 12578, Egypt; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada.
⁴ University of Science and Technology, Zewail City, 6th of October City, Giza 12578, Egypt; Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada.
⁵ University of Science and Technology, Zewail City, 6th of October City, Giza 12578, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
⁷ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66047, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy and Drug Manufacturing, Misr University of Science and Technology (MUST), 6th of October, Giza 12582, Egypt. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34171445
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.06.025

Abstract

With the significant drawbacks of conventional cancer chemotherapeutics, cancer immunotherapy has demonstrated the ability to eradicate cancer cells and circumvent multidrug resistance (MDR) with fewer side effects than traditional cytotoxic therapies. Various immunotherapeutic agents have been investigated for that purpose including checkpoint inhibitors, cytokines, monoclonal antibodies and cancer vaccines. All these agents aid immune cells to recognize and engage tumor cells by acting on tumor-specific pathways, antigens or cellular targets. However, immunotherapeutics are still associated with some concerns such as off-target side effects and poor pharmacokinetics. Nanomedicine may resolve some limitations of current immunotherapeutics such as localizing delivery, controlling release and enhancing the pharmacokinetic profile. Herein, we discuss recent advances of immunotherapeutic agents with respect to their development and biological mechanisms of action, along with the advantages that nanomedicine strategies lend to immunotherapeutics by possibly improving therapeutic outcomes and minimizing side effects.

Keywords: Checkpoint Inhibitors; Cytokines; Immunotherapy; Monoclonal Antibodies; Nanoparticles; Vaccines.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biology
Cancer Vaccines*
Humans
Immunotherapy
Nanomedicine
Neoplasms* / therapy

Substances

Cancer Vaccines

Grants and funding

R21 AG070466/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States