PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
This article is part of the Research TopicResearch on Nanomaterials in Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy, Volume IIView all 7 articles
Advances in the study of reversing tumor drug resistance by targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts with nanomaterials
Provisionally accepted
- 1Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, China
- 2Liaoning Cancer Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
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Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are key components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) which promote drug resistance by remodeling the extracellular matrix, generating an immunosuppressive microenvironment, and activating metabolic signaling pathways. Nanomaterials provide an effective method for specifically targeting CAF-mediated drug resistance because of their unique targeted delivery capabilities, responsive release characteristics, and multifunctional integration. Here, we describe the mechanisms underlying the role of CAFs in drug resistance. The types of materials used and design principles are described, and examples of the application of nanomaterials for targeting CAFs are provided. Current challenges and future directions of nanomaterials targeting CAFs for reversing tumor drug resistance are also discussed to provide theoretical support for the development of effective nanotherapies aimed at reversing drug resistance in cancer.
Keywords: nanomaterials, cancer-associated fibroblasts, Tumor Microenvironment, Tumor drug resistance, reverse tumor drug
Received: 16 Jun 2025; Accepted: 31 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Sun, Li, Li, Liu, Li and Zhu. 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:
Chang Liu, liuchang@cmu.edu.cn
Qiang Li, liqiang@cancerhosp-ln-cmu.com
Yanmei Zhu, zhuyanmei@cancerhosp-ln-cmu.com
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