Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (Apr 2024)

Nano-formulated delivery of active ingredients from traditional Chinese herbal medicines for cancer immunotherapy

  • Qi Shang,
  • Wandong Liu,
  • Faith Leslie,
  • Jiapei Yang,
  • Mingmei Guo,
  • Mingjiao Sun,
  • Guangji Zhang,
  • Qiang Zhang,
  • Feihu Wang

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 4
pp. 1525 – 1541

Abstract

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Cancer immunotherapy has garnered promise in tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis through establishing durable and memorable immunological activity. However, low response rates, adverse side effects, and high costs compromise the additional benefits for patients treated with current chemical and biological agents. Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) are a potential treasure trove of natural medicines and are gaining momentum in cancer immunomodulation with multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway characteristics. The active ingredient extracted from CHMs benefit generalized patients through modulating immune response mechanisms. Additionally, the introduction of nanotechnology has greatly improved the pharmacological qualities of active ingredients through increasing the hydrophilicity, stability, permeability, and targeting characteristics, further enhancing anti-cancer immunity. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of active ingredients for cancer immunomodulation, highlight nano-formulated deliveries of active ingredients for cancer immunotherapy, and provide insights into the future applications in the emerging field of nano-formulated active ingredients of CHMs.

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