Research Progress of Stimulus-Responsive Self-Assembled Peptides-Based Delivery System for Cancer Therapy

The escalating prevalence and fatality rates of cancer pose a significant challenge to human health. Conventional cancer therapies including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy can impede cancer advancement, are hindered by issues such as rapid drug metabolism, non-specific distribution, and restricted efficacy. Self-assembled peptides, characterized by favorable biocompatibility, biodegradability, and modifiability, have garnered interest from researchers as promising drug carriers due to their low toxicity and high efficiency. The development of a variety of stimuli-responsive peptide delivery systems using in vitro and in vivo response factors has significant advantages in improving drug targeting and enhancing anticancer effects. This study comprehensively summarizes the driving forces, response type, mechanisms and advantages of stimuli-responsive self-assembled peptides, and the research status and clinical application of stimuli-responsive self-assembled peptides in cancer treatment are emphatically discussed and prospected, in order to offer research ideas for the development of innovative stimulus-responsive peptide systems.