The Integration of Reactive Oxygen Species Generation and Prodrug Activation for Cancer Therapy

The combination of chemotherapeutic drugs and reactive oxygen species (ROS) can improve cancer treatment outcome. Many ROS-generation strategies can specifically consume tumor-inherent oxygen and generate ROS, resulting in amplified ROS level and aggravated hypoxia. Therefore, the ROS generation strategy can integrate with prodrug activation strategy to realize synergetic therapy. In recent years, stimuli-responsive nanomedicines have been developed to realize the integration of ROS generation and prodrug activation. Triggered by a stimulus, nanomedicines can generate ROS at the tumor site, which can further activate the release of active drugs. In this review, we will summarize the latest progress of these nanomedicines and discuss the perspectives and challenges.