Bacteria as Nanoparticle Carriers for Immunotherapy in Oncology

Abstract

The use of nanocarriers to deliver antitumor agents to solid tumors must overcome biological barriers in order to provide effective clinical responses. Once within the tumor, a nanocarrier should navigate into a dense extracellular matrix, overcoming intratumoral pressure to push it out of the diseased tissue. In recent years, a paradigm change has been proposed, shifting the target of nanomedicine from the tumoral cells to the immune system, in order to exploit the natural ability of this system to capture and interact with nanometric moieties. Thus, nanocarriers have been engineered to interact with immune cells, with the aim of triggering specific antitumor responses. The use of bacteria as nanoparticle carriers has been proposed as a valuable strategy to improve both the accumulation of nanomedicines in solid tumors and their penetration into the malignancy. These microorganisms are capable of propelling themselves into biological environments and navigating through the tumor, guided by the presence of specific molecules secreted by the diseased tissue. These capacities, in addition to the natural immunogenic nature of bacteria, can be exploited to design more effective immunotherapies that yield potent synergistic effects to induce efficient and selective immune responses that lead to the complete eradication of the tumor.