Nanotechnology special issue spotlights smart platforms while advancing precision cancer therapy

Nanotechnology is emerging as a transformative force in cancer research, but the future of precision oncology will not be defined by drug delivery alone. A new special issue of Cancer Biology & Medicine brings together editorials and reviews that examine how smart nanomaterials are beginning to actively participate in treatment—while also highlighting wider advances in tumor microenvironment reprogramming, immunotherapy synergy, and chemical biology. By placing nanotechnology within the broader landscape of cancer research progress, the collection offers a more integrated and forward-looking picture of how the field is evolving toward more precise and effective therapies.

Cancer remains one of oncology's most formidable challenges due to its biological heterogeneity, immune evasion mechanisms, and complex tumor microenvironment. Nanotechnology has drawn growing attention for its potential to improve drug targeting, controlled release, and multimodal combination therapy. Yet progress in cancer nanomedicine is also being driven by novel immunomodulatory strategies, innovative chemical tools such as click chemistry, and deeper insights into tumor biomineralization and the microbiome. A meaningful view of the field therefore requires attention not only to nanomaterial design but also to the scientific and clinical advances shaping cancer care more broadly. Based on these challenges and opportunities, deeper exploration is needed into how nanotechnology and broader cancer research can move forward together.

Published in April 2026 in Cancer Biology & Medicine, the special issue (DOI: https://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/23/4) on "Anti-Cancer Research with Nanotechnology" was guest-edited by Professor Linqi Shi of the State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology and the Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education at Nankai University, Tianjin, China. The issue reflects a wider landscape than its title alone may suggest. Alongside articles focused directly on nanoscale drug delivery systems, the collection also features work on postbiotics as emerging bioactive agents, click chemistry-driven theranostics, tumor biomineralization as a therapeutic paradigm, and nanodrug strategies for bacteria-infected and poor-prognosis tumors.

The issue's nanotechnology contributions show where smart platform designs are already gaining traction. An editorial on polymer-based antibody conjugation technologies surveys current strategies for enhancing cancer immunotherapy, while another article examines design principles of tumor microenvironment-responsive polymeric nanoparticles. A comprehensive review introduces postbiotics—bioactive metabolites derived from probiotics—as emerging anticancer agents with intrinsic activity and nanodelivery potential. The collection also features an in-depth review of click chemistry for tumor theranostics, a groundbreaking article on transforming tumor biomineralization from diagnostic marker to therapeutic modality, and a mechanistic framework for nanomaterial design across the cancer immunity cycle. Perhaps most provocatively, an article by Busscher and colleagues presents current evidence and hypotheses toward a paradigm change for treating poor-prognosis and bacteria-infected tumors using nanodrugs. Collectively, these contributions show that precision cancer nanomedicine is being shaped by converging advances across multiple domains.

"This collection demonstrates that the next phase of cancer nanotechnology research is not about choosing between smart materials and traditional biological approaches," the issue suggests. "It is about learning how to connect nanoscale tools with stronger biological insight, better therapies, and clinically meaningful research design." That balance is what makes the special issue especially timely: nanotechnology is presented as an important enabler of precision therapy, but not as a substitute for the therapeutic, translational, and mechanistic progress that continues to drive the field.

The broader message of the issue is clear. Future personalized cancer treatment will likely depend on a more integrated research model—one that combines the precise control of nanomaterials with deeper molecular understanding, improved combination treatment strategies, and robust clinical evaluation. By bringing cutting-edge nanotechnology research together with studies on biological discovery and therapeutic innovation, Cancer Biology & Medicine offers readers a timely snapshot of a field moving toward more precise, more synergistic, and ultimately more effective cancer care.

For more details and to access the full special issue, visit Cancer Biology & Medicine online: https://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/23/4

Cancer nanomedicine for therapy: emerging strategies and expanding perspectives
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2026.0254
Enhancing cancer immunotherapy through polymer-based antibody conjugation technologies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0512
Tumor microenvironment-responsive polymeric nanoparticles for enhanced immunotherapy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0517
Postbiotics: emerging bioactive agents in cancer therapy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0511
Click chemistry-driven tumor theranostics: recent advances, challenges, and future perspectives
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0667
From diagnostic marker-to-therapeutic modality: emerging paradigms in tumor biomineralization
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2026.0008
Poor prognosis outcome tumors, bacteria-infected tumors and nanodrugs: current evidence and hypotheses towards a paradigm change for treatment
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0748
Design principles of nanomaterials for cancer immunotherapy: a mechanistic framework across the cancer immunity cycle
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0737

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References

DOI

10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2026.0254
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0512
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0517
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0511
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0667
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2026.0008
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0748
10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0737

Abour Cancer Biology & Medicine

Cancer Biology & Medicine (CBM) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal sponsored by China Anti-cancer Association (CACA) and Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital. The journal monthly provides innovative and significant information on biological basis of cancer, cancer microenvironment, translational cancer research, and all aspects of clinical cancer research. The journal also publishes significant perspectives on indigenous cancer types in China. The journal is indexed in SCOPUS, MEDLINE and SCI (IF 8.4, 5-year IF 6.7), with all full texts freely visible to clinicians and researchers all over the world (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/2000/).