REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1673134
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmentally-Responsive Biomaterials for Major Diseases Treatment, Volume IIView all articles
Responsive Biomaterials for Therapeutic Strategies of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Provisionally accepted
- 1Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory, Chengdu, China
- 2West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a major global health burden due to its high recurrence and mortality rates. For patients with advanced HCC and compromised liver function, Pharmacotherapy has become the primary approach due to the limited efficacy of conventional treatments (e.g., surgical resection/ablation). Nevertheless, traditional anti-tumor agents suffer from poor target selectivity, systemic toxicity, and the emergence of drug resistance. To overcome these challenges, stimuli-responsive biomaterials have been developed as innovative strategies to improve HCC management. These advanced materials enable precise spatiotemporal control of drug delivery and release, thereby enhancing therapeutic efficacy while reducing side effects. This review provides a systematic overview of stimuli-responsive biomaterials, classified based on their responses to endogenous cues (e.g., pH, enzymes, and redox conditions) and exogenous stimuli (e.g., light and magnetic fields). These materials show great potential in overcoming biological barriers in HCC therapy and enhancing drug delivery efficiency, thereby paving the way for future clinical applications. By analyzing recent advances, this review highlights the potential of stimuli-responsive biomaterials in advancing therapeutic strategies for HCC. Integrating these materials into HCC therapy may significantly enhance patient outcomes and revolutionize existing treatment paradigms.
Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Responsive biomaterials, Drug delivery, Tumor Microenvironment, cancer therapy
Received: 25 Jul 2025; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liao, Zhou, Feng, Wang, Wu, Jiang, Yuanyuan, Wu and Shen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xun Liao, Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory, Chengdu, China
Qingbin Wu, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Shu Shen, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.