Enhancing Cancer Immunotherapy: The Role of Nanoparticle-Mediated Immunogenic Cell Death

Abstract

Cancer immunotherapy has caused a revolution in cancer treatment, but it faces a big problem: many tumor cells don’t set off a strong immune response. When cancer cells die during immunogenic cell death (ICD), they need to send out danger signals to kick-start anti-tumor immune responses. Our study looks at using nanoparticles as a new way to trigger ICD and make cancer immunotherapy work better. We show that our nanoparticles can target and kill cancer cells on purpose, which makes them release ATP HMGB1, and calreticulin. These danger signals help to call in immune cells, turn on dendritic cells, and get them to make pro-inflammatory cytokines, which leads to T cells that can spot tumors. What’s more, this ICD method using nanoparticles works well with checkpoint blockade and cancer vaccines making them better at fighting tumors in early tests.This strategy may have the potential to break the barriers currently associated with cancer immunotherapy and provide the ability to design more effective and personalized treatments for cancer patients.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.65525/SVUP.9788198471956.2025.303-316