Palladium Nanoplate-Based IL-6 Receptor Antagonists Ameliorate Cancer-Related Anemia and Simultaneously Inhibit Cancer Progression

In recent years, targeted therapies and immunotherapeutics, along with conventional chemo- and radiotherapy, have greatly improved cancer treatments. Unfortunately, in cancer patients, anemia, either as a complication of cancer progression or as the result of cancer treatment, undermines the expected therapeutic efficacy. Here, we developed a smart nanosystem based on the palladium nanoplates (PdPLs) to deliver tocilizumab (TCZ, a widely used IL-6R antibody) to the liver for specific blockade of IL-6/IL-6R signaling to correct anemia. With chemical modifications, this nanosystem delivered a large mass of TCZ and enhanced liver delivery, inducing a marked suppression of hepcidin expression as a result of diminished IL-6 signaling. Through this mechanism, significant suppression of tumor progression was realized (at least in part) because of the corrected anemia after treatment.