Polyprodrug Nanomedicines: An Emerging Paradigm for Cancer Therapy.

Kuikun Yang, Zhiqing Yang, Guocan Yu, Zhihong Nie, Ruibing Wang, Xiaoyuan Chen

Journal: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) 2022;34(6):e2107434

PMID: 34693571

Abstract

Nanomedicines have the potential to provide advanced therapeutic strategies in combating tumors. Polymer-prodrug-based nanomedicines are particularly attractive in cancer therapies owing to the maximum drug loading, prolonged blood circulation, and reduced premature leakage and side effects in comparison with conventional nanomaterials. However, the difficulty in precisely tuning the composition and drug loading of polymer-drug conjugates leads to batch-to-batch variations of the prodrugs, thus significantly restricting their clinical translation. Polyprodrug nanomedicines inherit the numerous intrinsic advantages of polymer-drug conjugates and exhibit well-controlled composition and drug loading via direct polymerization of therapeutic monomers, representing a promising nanomedicine for clinical tumor therapies. In this review, recent advances in the development of polyprodrug nanomedicines are summarized for tumor elimination. Various types of polyprodrug nanomedicines and the corresponding properties are first summarized. The unique advantages of polyprodrug nanomedicines and their key roles in various tumor therapies are further highlighted. Finally, current challenges and the perspectives on future research of polyprodrug nanomedicines are discussed.

Address: School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150080, P. R. China.; State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Science, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, 999078, P. R. China.; MoE Frontiers Science Center for Precision Oncology, University of Macau, Macau, P. R. China.; Key Lab of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China.; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, P. R. China.; Departments of Diagnostic Radiology, Surgery, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119074, Singapore.; Clinical Imaging Research Centre, Centre for Translational Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599, Singapore.; Nanomedicine Translational Research Program, NUS Center for Nanomedicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117597, Singapore.

DOI: 10.1002/adma.202107434

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https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202107434

MeSH Terms: Antineoplastic Agents, Drug Delivery Systems, Humans, Nanomedicine, Neoplasms, Polymers, Prodrugs