Bio-Polymers Based Functionalized Hydrogel Carriers for Targeted Oncology Therapies: Current Progress and Future Perspectives.

Challenges in cancer therapy remain in terms of lack of tumor selectivity, unwanted side effects, and inefficacy of current treatment strategies. Over the past few years, functionalized bio-polymer gels have become attractive alternatives for cancer therapy, as they are biocompatible and can be tailored to provide local drug delivery. Here, we critically assess recent advances in the design and use of these hydrogels, including polymer choice, cross-linking strategies, ligand-based tumor targeting and responsiveness to the tumor microenvironment. Multifunctional elements enable temporal and spatial regulation of drug release for a broad range of therapeutic approaches, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, and phototherapy. Furthermore, the application of injectable, implantable, and 3D-bioprinted hydrogels for clinical benefits is also explored. While significant progress has been made, issues of reproducibility, scalability and clinical translation still need to be addressed. Future strategies such as artificial-assisted design, patient-specific drug delivery systems and multi-responsive hydrogels will likely address these challenges. In summary, functionalized hydrogels based on bio-polymers are a promising and disruptive approach for next-generation precision oncology, with a great potential for future clinical applications.