Cancer therapeutics and research: novel developments

Chemodynamic Therapy: Tumour Microenvironment‐Mediated Fenton and Fenton‐like Reactions

“…[6][7][8] However,amajor issue encountered by scientists is how to broaden the applications of the Fenton and Fenton-like reactions,w hich would also provide possibilities and has prompted many studies in other fields in addition to the ecological environmental field. Characterized by mild acidity, [9] H 2 O 2 overproduction, [10] low catalase activity, [11] and hypoxia, [12] the tumour microenvironment (TME) not only provides as uitable environment and nutrition for tumour development [13] and metastasis [14,15] but also furnishes the "gate" for selective and efficient tumour treatments.I nt his case,n umerous TME-responsive nanomaterials have been developed in recent decades,t he majority of which are TME-responsive drug delivery nanocarriers [16][17][18] that have deficiencies,s uch as insufficient drug loading and easy leakage to damage normal tissues.M oreover, studies focusing on current clinical treatments would provide researchers with effective guidance to explore more suitable new therapies.F or example,r adiotherapy generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) [19] in the tumour area through X-rays to destroy the tumour.C ertain chemotherapeutic drugs,s uch as tirapazamine (TPZ) [20,21] and doxorubicin (DOX), [22] also generate ROSt of ight tumours.I na ddition, the drug artemisinin is ah ighly effective treatment for malaria. One of the principles underlying the effects of this drug is that the iron in the residual haeme observed in patients with malaria induces the decomposition of artemisinin by catalysing the formation of ap eroxide bridge to produce hydroxyl radicals, [23,24] which are highly active and lethal, subsequently eliminating the malaria parasite.C hemists quickly linked this mechanism to the classical Fenton reaction.…”