Recent advance in nanomaterials for cancer immunotherapy

As one of the four pillars of cancer treatment, immunotherapy is poising to the forefront of precise cancer treatment. Cancer immunotherapy, such as chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy, monoclonal antibody therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, has achieved remarkable results. However, cancer immunotherapy is only effective for rarely patients, with low response rates and immune-related adverse events (irAEs). In this decade of rapid development, the combination of nanotechnology and cancer immunotherapy has contributed to the future of cancer treatment with precision medicine. The addition of nanomaterials reduces the occurrence of irAEs and promotes the activity of antigen presenting cells (APC) and cytotoxic T cells (CTL) at the tumor site. The focus of this review is the application of nanomaterials as drug carriers in tumor immunity. On this basis, we introduced the combination of immunotherapy and phototherapy based on nanomaterials. Finally, the toxicity and safety issues of nanoparticles and the prospects, and challenges of nano-precision targeted therapy are put forward. It is expected that this review will provide some enlightenment for the future research and clinical translation of nanoparticles based on cancer immunotherapy.