Responsive Role of Nanomedicine in the Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Drug Resistance

Abstract: Cancer remains a major worldwide health challenge. Current studies emphasize the tumor microenvironment that plays a vital role in tumor proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance. The tumor microenvironment (TME) supports the cancer cell to evade conventional treatment such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Moreover, the components of tumor microenvironments have a major contribution towards developing therapy resistance in solid tumors. Therefore, targeting the tumor microenvironment can be a novel approach for achieving advancement in cancer nanomedicine. The recent progress in understanding TME and developing TME-responsive nanoparticles offers a great advantage in treating cancer drug resistance. These nanoparticles are developed in response to TME stimuli such as low pH, redox, and hypoxia improve nanomedicine's pharmacokinetic and therapeutic efficacy. This review discusses the various components of the tumor microenvironment responsible for drug resistance and nanomedicine's role in overcoming it.