Programmable NIR-II Photothermal-Enhanced Starvation-Primed Chemodynamic Therapy using Glucose Oxidase-Functionalized Ancient Pigment Nanosheets

Tumor Microenvironment Modulation Platform Based on Composite Biodegradable Bismuth-Manganese Radiosensitizer for Inhibiting Radioresistant Hypoxic Tumors

Solid tumors possess a unique internal environment with high-level thiols (mainly glutathione), over-expressed H₂ O₂ , and low oxygen partial pressure, which severely restrict the radiotherapy (RT) efficacy. To overcome the imperfections of RT alone, there is vital to design a multifunctional radiosensitizer that simultaneously achieves multimodal therapy and tumor microenvironment (TME) regulation. Bismuth (Bi)-based nanospheres are wrapped in the MnO₂ layer to form core-shell-structured radiosensitizer (Bi@Mn) that can effectively load docetaxel (DTX). The solubility of Bi@Mn-DTX is further improved via folic acid-modified amphiphilic polyethylene glycol (PFA). Bi@Mn-DTX-PFA can specifically respond to the TME to realize multimodal therapy. Primarily, the outer MnO₂ layer responds with H₂ O₂ and glutathione to release oxygen and generate •OH, thereby alleviating hypoxia and achieving chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Afterward, the strong coordination between Bi³⁺ and deprotonated thiol groups in glutathione allows the mesoporous Bi-containing core bonding with glutathione to form a water-soluble complex. These actions conduce Bi@Mn-DTX-PFA degradation, further releasing DTX to implement chemotherapy (CHT). In addition, the degradation in vivo and tumor enrichment of Bi@Mn-PFA are explored via T₁ -weighted magnetic resonance and computed tomography imaging. The biodegradable composite Bi@Mn-DTX-PFA can simultaneously modulate the TME and achieve multimodal treatment (RT/CDT/CHT) for hypoxic tumors.

Conjugated Polymer-Ferrocence Nanoparticle as an NIR-II Light Powered Nanoamplifier to Enhance Chemodynamic Therapy

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is a promising therapeutic modality with transition metal ions and endogenous H₂O₂ as reagents, but its efficiency is impaired by low endogenous H₂O₂ levels and nonregeneration of metal ions. Most intracellular H₂O₂ supplement strategies use oxidases and are intensively dependent on oxygen participation. The hypoxia microenvironments of solid tumors weaken their performance. Here, we develop a near-infrared II light powered nanoamplifier to improve the local oxygen level and to enhance CDT. The nanoamplifier CPNP-Fc/Pt consists of ferrocene (Fc)- and cisplatin prodrug (Pt(IV))-modified conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNPs). CPNP has a donor-acceptor structure and demonstrates a good photothermal effect under 1064 nm light irradiation, which accelerates blood flow and efficiently elevates the local oxygen content. In response to intracellular glutathione, Pt(II) is released from CPNP-Fc/Pt and triggers enzymatic cascade reactions with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NADPH oxidase) and superoxide dismutase to convert oxygen into H₂O₂. The enhanced oxygen level results in efficient intracellular H₂O₂ supply. Fc is reacted with H₂O₂ and converted to Fc⁺ via the Fenton reaction, with the generation of hydroxyl radicals for CDT. Unlike free metal ions, the Fe(III) in Fc⁺ is reduced to Fe(II) by intracellular NAD(P)H, which achieves the regeneration of Fc. The sufficient intracellular H₂O₂ supply and efficient Fc regeneration effectively enhance the Fenton reaction and demonstrate good in vivo CDT results with tumor growth suppression. This design offers a promising strategy to enhance CDT efficiency in the hypoxia microenvironment of solid tumors.

Carbon-Defect-Driven Boron Carbide for Dual-Modal NIR-II/Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

Recently, tremendous attention has been evoked in the discovery of defect-engineered nanomaterials for near-infrared second window (NIR-II)-driven cancer therapy. Herein, we have constructed a novel type of carbon defects enriched in boron carbide nanomaterial (denoted as B₄C@C) through reacting B₄C and glucose by a hydrothermal method. The carbon defect concentration in B₄C@C has been significantly increased after coating with glucose; thus, B₄C@C exhibited a distinct photothermal response under the NIR-II window and the efficiency of photothermal conversion is determined to reach 45.4%, which is higher than the carbon-based nanomaterials in the NIR-II region. Both Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra reveal that B₄C@C has rich sp²-hybridized carbon defects and effectively increases the NIR-II window light absorption capacity, thus enhancing the nonradiative recombination rate and improving the NIR-II photothermal effect. Furthermore, the B₄C@C nanosheets allows for tumor phototherapy and simultaneous photoacoustic imaging. This work indicates the huge potential of B₄C@C as a novel photothermal agent, which might arise much attention in exploring boron-based nanomaterials for the advantage of cancer therapy.

X-ray-facilitated redox cycling of nanozyme possessing peroxidase-mimicking activity for reactive oxygen species-enhanced cancer therapy

Nanomaterials with shifting or mixed redox states is one of the most common studied nanozyme with peroxidase-like activity for chemodynamic therapy (CDT), which can decompose hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) of tumor microenvironment into highly toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) by a nano-catalytic way. However, most of them exhibit an insufficient catalytic efficiency due to their dependence on catalytic condition. Herein, a potential methodology is proposed to enhance their enzymatic activity by accelerating the redox cycling of these nanomaterials with shifting or mixed redox states in the presence of X-ray. In this study, the nanocomposite consisting of SnS₂ nanoplates and Fe₃O₄ quantum dots with shifting or mixed redox states (Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺) is used to explore the strategy. Under external X-ray irradiation, SnS₂ cofactor as electron donor can be triggered to transfer electrons to Fe₃O₄, which promotes the regeneration of Fe²⁺ sites on the surface of the Fe₃O₄. Consequently, the regenerated Fe²⁺ sites react with the overexpressed H₂O₂ to persistently generate ROS for enhanced tumor therapy. The designed nanocomposite displays the synergistic effects of radiotherapy and CDT. The strategy provides a new avenue for the development of artificial nanozymes with shifting or mixed redox states in precise cancer treatments based on X-ray-enhanced enzymatic efficacy.

Biomineralized synthesis of a smart O2-regenerating nanoreactor for highly efficient starvation/gas therapy

The emerging starvation therapy holds great promise in cancer treatment, however, its therapeutic effect is heavily reduced by intracellular hypoxia and high glutathione (GSH) conditions. To overcome these limitations, a new concept of starvation therapy pattern that employs biodegradable carriers with special selectivity and exhibits excellent anti-migration and therapy effect without using any invasive chemotherapy drugs was developed. A facile biomineralization method is first chosen to synthesize human serum albumin and folic acid modified MnO2 to guarantee active targeting, long-term stability and responsive degradation in tumor microenvironment. Designed degradation remarkably reduces GSH contents and hugely elevates intracellular O2 levels, both of which significantly improve the catalytic efficiency of GOX. Furthermore, the by-product of H2O2 is intelligently used to oxidize L-arginine and the generated NO results into effective gas therapy. More importantly, the first anti-migration case of starvation therapy has been reported in this work, and detailed molecular mechanism study uncovers that lysosome damage and changes of mitochondria membrane potential contribute to cell apoptosis. This work opens up new ideas to construct novel green yet noninvasive methods to treat cancer and inhibit migration by using degradable carriers and endogenous substances to minimize adverse effect.

V2C Nanosheets as Dual-Functional Antibacterial Agents

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains have been continuously increasing and becoming a supreme threat to public health globally. The nanoparticle-based photothermal treatment has emerged as a powerful tool to combat toxic bacteria. Photothermal agents (PTAs) with cost-effective and high photothermal conversion efficiency are highly desirable. Herein, we unite the green process for delamination of V2AlC to produce a high yield mass of two-dimensional (2D) V2C nanosheets (NSs) by using algae extracts and demonstrate their high antibacterial efficiency. The resultant V2C NSs present decent structural reliability and intrinsic antibacterial ability. Powerful near-infrared (NIR) absorption and extraordinary photothermal conversion proficiency make it a good PTA for the photothermal treatment of bacteria. The antibacterial efficiency evaluation indicated that V2C NSs could effectively kill both Gram-positive S. aureus and Gram-negative E. coli. About 99.5% of both types of bacteria could be killed with low-dose of V2C NSs suspension (40 μg/mL) with 5 min NIR irradiation due to the intrinsic antibacterial ability and photothermal effect of V2C NSs, which is much higher than previous reports on Ta4C3, Ti3C2, MoSe2, and Nb2C. This work expands the application of MXene V2C NSs for rapid bacteria-killing and would gain promising attention for applications in the sterilization industry.

Skillfully collaborating chemosynthesis with GOx-enabled tumor survival microenvironment deteriorating strategy for amplified chemotherapy and enhanced tumor ablation

The satisfactory efficient tumor treatment and complete tumor ablation using a mono-therapeutic approach are limited owing to the tumor complexity, diversity, heterogeneity and the multiple pathways involved in tumor pathogenesis. Herein, novel, intelligent and tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive biotin/R8 peptide co-modified nanocarriers (BRNC) loading paclitaxel (PTX)/glucose oxidase (GOx) were constructed. GOx could catalyze the oxidation of intracellular glucose to gluconic acid and poisonous H2O2 to cause the deterioration of the tumor survival microenvironment, simultaneously achieving starvation and oxidation therapy. The acidic amplification during the GOx-mediated oxidation progress could in turn accelerate the cleavage of the acid-degradable hydrazone bond, promoting the deep penetration of nanocarriers into tumors. Even better, the aforementioned two aspects further increased the tumors' sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Both in vitro and in vivo investigations indicated that the co-administration of GOx-BRNC and PTX-BRNC can remarkably improve the therapeutic efficacy and reduce side effects through the high-specific tumor targeting multimodal synergistic starvation/oxidation/chemotherapy, which would be a promising strategy for the next generation cancer therapy.

Manganese-Dioxide-Coating-Instructed Plasmonic Modulation of Gold Nanorods for Activatable Duplex-Imaging-Guided NIR-II Photothermal-Chemodynamic Therapy

Nanotheranostic agents of gold nanomaterials in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window have attracted significant attention in cancer management, owing to the reduced background signal and deeper penetration depth in tissues. However, it is still challenging to modulate the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of gold nanomaterials from the first near-infrared (NIR-I) to NIR-II region. Herein, a plasmonic modulation strategy of gold nanorods (GNRs) through manganese dioxide coating is developed for NIR-II photoacoustic/magnetic resonance (MR) duplex-imaging-guided NIR-II photothermal chemodynamic therapy. GNRs are coated with silica dioxide (SiO2 ) and then covered with magnesium dioxide (MnO2 ) to obtain the final product of GNR@SiO2 @MnO2 (denoted as GSM). The LSPR peak of GNRs could be tuned by adjusting the thickness of the MnO2 layer. Theoretical simulations reveal that this plasmonic modulation is mainly due to the change of refraction index around the GNRs after coating with the MnO2 layer. Additionally, the MnO2 layer is demonstrated to degrade into Mn2+ ions in response to peroxide and acidic protons in the tumor microenvironment, which allows for MR imaging and chemodynamic therapy. This plasmonic modulation strategy can be adapted to other metal nanomaterials and the construction of a new class of NIR-II nanotheranostics.

A Three-in-one ZIFs-Derived CuCo(O)/GOx@PCNs Hybrid Cascade Nanozyme for Immunotherapy/Enhanced Starvation/Photothermal Therapy

Glucose oxidase (GOx) is regarded as an ideal endogenous natural enzyme for tumor starvation therapy and photothermal therapy (PTT) is a promising strategy for the ablation of primary tumor. In this work, Cu-doped cobalt oxide and porous carbon nanocomposites (CuCo(O)@PCNs) were synthesized from double-layered ZIF-8@ZIF-67 and GOx was loaded in the porous carbon to form a CuCo(O)/GOx@PCNs hybrid nanozyme. CuCo(O) was characterized as the Cu_0.3Co_2.7O₄ phase through X-ray diffraction analysis and it can react with H₂O₂ to generate O₂ and alleviate tumor hypoxia, resulting in the recovered enzymatic activity of GOx and the enhanced starvation therapy. The porous nanocarbon can ablate the primary tumor because of its high photothermal conversion efficiency of 40.04%. The three-in-one functions of oxygen supply, glucose consumption, and photothermal conversion were realized in the ZIFs-derived CuCo(O)/GOx@PCNs nanozyme and the starvation therapy effect was improved by PTT and oxygen supplement. Furthermore, the inhibition effect of CuCo(O)/GOx@PCNs on metastatic tumor is similar to combined therapy of the nanozyme and the immune checkpoint-blocking antibody, α-PD-1. The related antitumor immune mechanism was studied through the analysis of immune-related proinflammatory cytokines and the activated T cells. This work may provide new ideas for the development and application of the ZIFs-derived hybrid nanozyme in tumor therapy and the CuCo(O)/GOx@PCNs nanozyme may be a promising alternative to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Emerging Nanomedicine-Enabled/Enhanced Nanodynamic Therapies beyond Traditional Photodynamics

The rapid knowledge growth of nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology enables and promotes the emergence of distinctive disease-specific therapeutic modalities, among which nanomedicine-enabled/augmented nanodynamic therapy (NDT), as triggered by either exogenous or endogenous activators on nanosensitizers, can generate reactive radicals for accomplishing efficient disease nanotherapies with mitigated side effects and endowed disease specificity. As one of the most representative modalities of NDT, traditional light-activated photodynamics suffers from the critical and unsurmountable issues of the low tissue-penetration depth of light and the phototoxicity of the photosensitizers. To overcome these obstacles, versatile nanomedicine-enabled/augmented NDTs have been explored for satisfying varied biomedical applications, which strongly depend on the physicochemical properties of the involved nanomedicines and nanosensitizers. These distinctive NDTs refer to sonodynamic therapy (SDT), thermodynamic therapy (TDT), electrodynamic therapy (EDT), piezoelectric dynamic therapy (PZDT), pyroelectric dynamic therapy (PEDT), radiodynamic therapy (RDT), and chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Herein, the critical roles, functions, and biological effects of nanomedicine (e.g., sonosensitizing, photothermal-converting, electronic, piezoelectric, pyroelectric, radiation-sensitizing, and catalytic properties) for enabling the therapeutic procedure of NDTs, are highlighted and discussed, along with the underlying therapeutic principle and optimization strategy for augmenting disease-therapeutic efficacy and biosafety. The present challenges and critical issues on the clinical translations of NDTs are also discussed and clarified.

Quantitative Assessment of Copper(II) in Wilson's Disease Based on Photoacoustic Imaging and Ratiometric Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Cu²⁺ is closely related to the occurrence and development of Wilson's disease (WD), and quantitative detection of various copper indicators (especially liver Cu² and urinary Cu²⁺) is the key step for the early diagnosis of WD in the clinic. However, the clinic Cu²⁺ detection approach was mainly based on testing the liver tissue through combined invasive liver biopsy and the ICP-MS method, which is painful for the patient and limited in determining WD status in real-time. Herein, we rationally designed a type of Cu²⁺-activated nanoprobe based on nanogapped gold nanoparticles (AuNNP) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) to simultaneously quantify the liver Cu²⁺ content and urinary Cu²⁺ in WD by photoacoustic (PA) imaging and ratiometric surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), respectively. In the nanoprobe, one Raman molecule of 2-naphthylthiol (NAT) was placed in the nanogap of AuNNP. PNIPAM and the other Raman molecule mercaptobenzonitrile (MBN) were coated on the AuNNP surface, named AuNNP-NAT@MBN/PNIPAM. Cu²⁺ can efficiently coordinate with the chelator PNIPAM and lead to aggregation of the nanoprobe, resulting in the absorption red-shift and increased PA performance of the nanoprobe in the NIR-II window. Meanwhile, the SERS signal at 2223 cm^-1 of MBN is amplified, while the SERS signal at 1378 cm^-1 of NAT remains stable, generating a ratiometric SERS I₂₂₂₃/I₁₃₇₈ signal. Both NIR-II PA_1250 nm and SERS I₂₂₂₃/I₁₃₇₈ signals of the nanoprobe show a linear relationship with the concentration of Cu²⁺. The nanoprobe was successfully applied for in vivo quantitative detection of liver Cu²⁺ of WD mice through NIR-II PA imaging and accurate quantification of urinary Cu²⁺ of WD patients by ratiometric SERS. We anticipate that the activatable nanoprobe might be applied for assisting an early, precise diagnosis of WD in the clinic in the future.

Light-Triggered Transformable Ferrous Ion Delivery System for Photothermal Primed Chemodynamic Therapy

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) involves the catalytic generation of highly toxic hydroxyl radicals (^. OH) from hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ ) through metal-ion-mediated Fenton or Fenton-like reactions. Fe²⁺ is a classical catalyst ion, however, it suffers easy oxidation and systemic side-effects. Therefore, the development of a controllable Fe²⁺ delivery system is a challenge to maintain its valence state, reduce toxicity, and improve therapeutic efficacy. Reported here is a near-infrared (NIR) light-triggered Fe²⁺ delivery agent (LET-6) for fluorescence (FL) and photoacoustic (PA) dual-modality imaging guided, photothermal primed CDT. Thermal expansion caused by 808 nm laser irradiation triggers the transformation of LET-6 to expose Fe²⁺ from its hydrophobic layer, which primes the catalytic breakdown of endogenous H₂ O₂ within the tumor microenvironment, thus generating ^. OH for enhanced CDT. LET-6 shows remarkable therapeutic effects, both in vitro and in vivo, achieving 100 % tumor elimination after just one treatment. This high-performance Fe²⁺ delivery system provides a sound basis for future synergistic metal-ion-mediated cancer therapy.

Multienzyme-Mimic Ultrafine Alloyed Nanoparticles in Metal Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Chemodynamic Therapy

Nanozyme-based chemodynamic therapy (CDT) has emerged as an effective cancer treatment because of its low side effects and without the requirement of exogenous energy. The therapeutic effect of CDT highlights the pivotal importance of active sites, H₂ O₂ supplement and the glutathione (GSH) depletion of a nanozyme. The construction of a single kind of catalyst with multiple functions for the enhanced CDT is still a big challenge. In this work, seven types of bimetallic nanoparticles are synthesized using a metal-organic framework (MOF) as a stable host instead of a Fenton or Fenton-like ions supplier. Among them, Cu-Pd@MIL-101 with an alloy loading of 9.5 wt% modified by PEG (9.5% CPMP) is found to exhibit the highest peroxidase (POD) like activity combined with a superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimic activity and the function of GSH depletion. The in vivo results suggest that the stable and ultrafine nanoparticles possess favorable CDT effect for tumor and good biosafety as well as biocompatibility. This work has provided a credible strategy to construct nanozymes with an excellent activity and may pave a new way for the design of enhanced tumor CDT treatment.

Second near-infrared photothermal materials for combinational nanotheranostics

This review summarizes the recent development of second near-infrared photothermal combinational nanotheranostics for cancer, infectious diseases and regenerative medicine.

One-for-all intelligent core-shell nanoparticles for tumor-specific photothermal-chemodynamic synergistic therapy

Reasonable management of the one-for-all nanoplatform can facilitate improved cancer therapy. Here, the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on iron(iii) carboxylate material (MIL-101-NH₂) were in situ decorated on stabilized polydopamine nanoparticles (PDANPs), which subsequently loaded glucose oxidase (GOx) via hyaluronic acid (HA) coating to structure the one-for-all intelligent core-shell nanoparticles (HG-MIL@PDANPs). Because of the inner PDANPs, the HG-MIL@PDANPs could realize near-infrared (NIR)-controllable site-specific photothermal therapy (PTT). Additionally, the core-shell nanoparticles exhibited a pH-triggered and NIR-reinforced release of Fe³⁺ and GOx owing to the controllable degradation of the outer shell. Hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) were produced for chemodynamic therapy (CDT) employing the Fe²⁺-driven Fenton reaction, which could be greatly promoted by Fe³⁺-involved glutathione (GSH) depletion and GOx-catalyzed acidity recovery and H₂O₂ self-sufficiency. Moreover, the HA ligand could enhance the tumor accumulation of the HG-MIL@PDANPs through the long blood circulation time and CD44-targeted cell recognition. The ingenious integration of PTT and CDT in one fully equipped system presented excellent synergistic antitumor efficiency in vitro and in vivo with favorable biosafety. The one-for-all intelligent core-shell nanoparticles with CD44 targeting provide a new avenue for engineering on-demand tumor-specific therapy.

Biodegradable Multifunctional Nanotheranostic Based on Ag2S-Doped Hollow BSA-SiO2 for Enhancing ROS-Feedback Synergistic Antitumor Therapy

Stimuli-responsive silica nanoparticles are an attractive therapeutic agent for effective tumor ablation, but the responsiveness of silica nanoagents is limited by intrastimulation level and silica framework structure. Herein, a biodegradable hollow SiO₂-based nanosystem (Ag₂S-GOx@BHS NYs) is developed by a novel one-step dual-template (bovine serum albumin (BSA) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)) synthetic strategy for image-guided therapy. The Ag₂S-GOx@BHS NYs can be specifically activated in the tumor microenvironment via a self-feedback mechanism to achieve reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced multistep therapy. In response to the inherent acidity and H₂O₂ at the tumor sites, Ag₂S-GOx@BHS would accelerate the structural degradation while releasing glucose oxidase (GOx), which could efficiently deplete intratumoral glucose to copious amounts of gluconic acid and H₂O₂. More importantly, the sufficient H₂O₂ not only acts as a reactant to generate Ag⁺ from Ag₂S for metal-ion therapy and improves the oxidative stress but also combines with gluconic acid results in the self-accelerating degradation process. Moreover, the released Ag₂S nanoparticles can help the Ag₂S-GOx@BHS NYs realize the second near-infrared window fluorescence (NIR-II FL) and photoacoustic (PA) imaging-guided precise photothermal therapy (PTT). Taken together, the development of a self-feedback nanosystem may open up a new dimension for a highly effective multistep tumor therapy.

State-of-the-art advances of copper-based nanostructures in the enhancement of chemodynamic therapy

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is a new emerging strategy for the in situ treatment of tumors. In the microenvironment of tumor cells, CDT may be achieved through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), e.g., hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) and singlet oxygen (¹O₂), which induce the death of tumor cells. Copper (Cu) or other transition-metal ions catalyze the production of ˙OH by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) through Fenton or Fenton-like reactions. With the development of advanced nanotechnology, nanotherapeutic systems with Cu-based nanostructures have received extensive attention and have been demonstrated for their wide applications in the design and construction of nanotherapeutic systems for CDT, along with multimodal synergistic therapy. Herein, the cutting-edge developments of Cu-based nanostructures in CDT are reviewed and discussed, by focusing on the monotherapy of CDT as well as synergistic treatments by hyphenating CDT with various therapeutic protocols, e.g., photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT), sonodynamic therapy (SDT), and so on. In addition, the potential challenges and future perspectives are described in the improvement of CDT therapeutic efficacy, the enhancement of targeting capability, and mechanistic investigations on CDT therapy.

Nanoplatform-based cascade engineering for cancer therapy

Various therapeutic techniques have been studied for treating cancer precisely and effectively, such as targeted drug delivery, phototherapy, tumor-specific catalytic therapy, and synergistic therapy, which, however, evoke numerous challenges due to the inherent limitations of these therapeutic modalities and intricate biological circumstances as well. With the remarkable advances of nanotechnology, nanoplatform-based cascade engineering, as an efficient and booming strategy, has been tactfully introduced to optimize these cancer therapies. Based on the designed nanoplatforms, pre-supposed cascade processes could be triggered under specific conditions to generate/deliver more therapeutic species or produce stronger tumoricidal effects inside tumors, aiming to achieve cancer therapy with increased anti-tumor efficacy and diminished side effects. In this review, the recent advances in nanoplatform-based cascade engineering for cancer therapy are summarized and discussed, with an emphasis on the design of smart nanoplatforms with unique structures, compositions and properties, and the implementation of specific cascade processes by means of endogenous tumor microenvironment (TME) resources and/or exogenous energy inputs. This fascinating strategy presents unprecedented potential in the enhancement of cancer therapies, and offers better controllability, specificity and effectiveness of therapeutic functions compared to the corresponding single components/functions. In the end, challenges and prospects of such a burgeoning strategy in the field of cancer therapy will be discussed, hopefully to facilitate its further development to meet the personalized treatment demands.