New Tumor Targeting Strategies in Cancer Immunotherapy Research

Abstract

Immunotherapy is a method that uses immunotherapeutic drugs instead of antitumor drugs in the treatment of cancer because antitumor drugs are typically harmful towards both the cancer cells and normal cells within a cancer patient’s body. Immunotherapeutic drugs give the immune system a boost and enable it to be able to recognize tumor cells and kill them. Since this method is relatively new, researchers are studying potential strategies that would involve targeting the cancerous tumors to investigate which strategies exhibit high synergistic therapeutic efficacy and enhance antitumor immunity. It is important that these potential treatments are able to suppress tumor growth and promote the body’s natural immune responses.  Recently, a team has developed a pH-responsive hybrid biomimetic membrane-camouflaged PLGA nanoparticle system that could prove to be a promising strategy when using combination therapy. Although there have been many studies investigating tumor targeting strategies for use in immunotherapy, there are still many mechanisms at play that are not fully understood. Until these mechanisms are studied more, it will remain difficult for researchers to develop successful strategies.