Comment on “Coadministration of iRGD with Multistage Responsive Nanoparticles Enhanced Tumor Targeting and Penetration Abilities for Breast Cancer Therapy”

Nanomedicine is at the forefront of targeted drug delivery for cancer therapy. An improved combinatorial approach is highlighted for breast cancer treatment by Hu et al. in this issue of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. The authors demonstrated that, by combining multistage-responsive nanoparticles carrying a therapeutic drug, doxorubicin, a photothermal agent, indocyanine green, and a nitric oxide donor with photothermal therapy and intravenous injection of a tumor-homing iRGD peptide, one could achieve efficient therapeutics distribution deep inside the tumor and nearly eradicate primary tumor growth. An in-depth understanding of this approach in combination with other strategies such as the use of immunomodulators would facilitate treating metastasis in distant organs, and clinical translation of this platform, benefiting cancer patients by providing long-lasting efficacy.