Engineered Platelets for Cancer Therapy

Abstract

While nanomedicine research shows a great progress in the treatment of cancer, it still faces challenges of tumor recurrence and metastasis. Numerous studies have demonstrated intricate crosstalk between platelets and tumor cells. The re-education of platelets by tumor cells enables these platelets to provide critical assistance for tumor proliferation, recurrence, and metastasis. Engineered platelets have shown promising potential in the treatment of tumors, postoperative tumor recurrence, and tumor metastasis. Different engineering technologies such as surface modification, gene editing, membrane coating, and loading into hydrogels can produce multifunctional and customized engineered platelets. These engineered platelets inherit the key properties of platelets, including long blood circulation, tumor targeting, and thrombus targeting, and can be stimulated to generate derivatized particles. In this review, we elucidate the critical role of platelets in the complex processes of tumorigenesis and tumor progression and summarize the emerging paradigm of engineered platelets in tumor therapy. The purpose of this review is to comprehensively explore the potential value of engineered platelets toward the clinical treatment of cancer, providing a valuable reference for the further development of engineered platelets and their broader applications in the field of cancer therapy.