Abstract
Immunotherapy is revolutionizing the treatment of cancer. It can achieve unprecedented responses in advanced-stage patients, including complete cures and long-term survival. However, immunotherapy also has limitations, such as its relatively low response rates and the development of severe side effects. These drawbacks are gradually being overcome by improving our understanding of the immune system, as well as by establishing combination regimens in which immunotherapy is combined with other treatment modalities. In addition to this, in recent years, progress made in chemistry, nanotechnology and materials science has started to impact immuno-oncology, resulting in more effective and less toxic immunotherapy interventions. In this context, multiple different nanomedicine formulations and macroscale materials have been shown to be able to boost anti-cancer immunity and the efficacy of immunomodulatory drugs. We here review nanotechnological and materials chemistry efforts related to endogenous and exogenous vaccination, to the engineering of antigen-presenting cells and T cells, and to the modulation of the tumor microenvironment. We also discuss limitations, current trends and future directions. Together, the insights provided and the evidence obtained indicate that there is a bright future ahead for engineering nanomedicines and macroscale materials for immuno-oncology applications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 351-381 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | Chemical Society Reviews |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 7 Jan 2019 |
Funding
Department of Nanomedicines and Theranostics, Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen and Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] bInstitute of Organic Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz, Germany cDepartment of Pharmaceutics, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium dTRON – Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz gGmbH, 55131, Mainz, Germany eDepartment of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands fFraunhofer MEVIS, Institute for Medical Image Computing, 52074 Aachen, Germany gDepartment of Targeted Therapeutics, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands Twan Lammers obtained a DSc degree in Radiation Oncology from Heidelberg University in 2008 and a PhD degree in Pharma- ceutics from Utrecht University in 2009. In the same year, he started the Nanomedicine and Therano- stics group at the Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging at RWTH Aachen University Clinic. In 2014, he was promoted to full professor at the faculty of medicine at RWTH Aachen. He has published >150 research articles and reviews, and received several scholarships and awards, including a starting and two proof-of-concept grants from the European Research Council, and the young investigator award of the Controlled Release Society. Q. S., Y. S., and T. L. acknowledge support by the Aachen Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF; Projects O3-1 and O3-2). M. B., M. D. and T. L. acknowledge support by the DFG/SFB 1066-1/-2: Nanodimensional polymer therapeutics for tumor therapy. B. G. acknowledges FWO Flanders, UGent (BOF) and Kom op Tegen Kanker. T. L. and F. K. acknowledge funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG; RTG2375 Tumor-targeted Drug Delivery). Y. S. and T. L. acknowledge support by the European Union (EU-EFRE: European Fund for Regional Development: I3-STM 0800387). T. L. acknowledges support of the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant Neo-NaNo (309495) and Proof-of-Concept grants CONQUEST (680882) and PIcelles (813086)).
