Biomimetic cell-membrane-coated metallic nanoparticles in cancer therapy: Design, functional mechanisms, and translational challenges.

Cancer remains a major health concern worldwide, with the need to identify better and more specific treatment measures. The concept of using metallic nanoparticles in drug delivery has attracted significant attention due to their distinct physicochemical characteristics, including surface area, size, and multifunctionality. However, their clinical use is constrained by rapid immune elimination, lack of specificity, and toxicity. To overcome these issues, metallic nanoparticles with cell-membrane-coating surfaces have become a good biomimetic platform that combines synthetic nanomaterials as well as biological activities in a single platform. These systems can be generated to have better immune evasion, long-term circulation, and better targeting because of receptor-mediated and homotypic interactions by mimicking natural cells. Additionally, stimuli-responsive controlled drug delivery increases therapeutic efficacy and decreases systemic side effects. Their effectiveness in other cancer therapies, such as photodynamic, chemodynamic, sonodynamic and immunotherapy, has been shown with greater tumour inhibition and lower toxicity in preclinical models.