Background
Cancer remains one of the most difficult to treat diseases because conventional therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy are often hampered by poor specificity, systemic toxicity and damage to healthy tissues. On the other hand, microrobotic swarms have become a transformative approach, offering improved targeting precision, multimodal therapy and mini-invasive capacities. Unlike the conventional methods based on passive diffusion or systemic circulation, microrobotic swarms actively navigate on complex organic environments to provide therapeutic agents directly to tumor sites, thus reducing the off -target effects and allowing real -time monitoring. These swarms can fulfill several functions simultaneously, such as administration of drugs, imagery and hyperthermia, while adapting to dynamic environments for precise treatment of cancer.
Professor Jiangfan Yu’s team at the School of Science and Engineering, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), summed up the applications of microrobots in cancer therapy from the point of view of swarms. This review systematically discusses the design of microrobots for cancer treatment, focusing on three main strategies: the elimination of tumor cells, tumor infiltration and tumoromodulation. Subsequently, the in vivo delivery and imaging strategies are introduced. Finally, the article sums up the current applications of microrobotic swarms through tumors in various organs and discusses future challenges and orientations to improve the efficiency of cancer treatment.
Agent design for cancer therapy
Tackle the characteristics of cancer, including uncontrolled proliferation, impenetrable microenvironments and immunosuppression, this review deeply examines the microrobotic strategies of three aspects: the eradication of tumor cells, the improvement of the penetration of tumors and the inversion of immune suppression. While conventional chemotherapy targets malignant cells, its systemic toxicity and poor specificity cause significant collateral damage to healthy tissues. The journal systematically analyzes the design of microrobots developed for targeted chemotherapeutic delivery and multimodal therapy (combining gene therapy, oncolytic viruses and phototherapy). In addition, microbots sensitive to microenvironnement are discussed, including oxygen -generating microrobots which catalystically decompose hydrogen peroxide to reduce hypoxia and magnetotactic bacteria which swim autonomously towards the private oxygen tumor regions. To combat tumor immunosuppression, the article describes microrobotic design strategies that promote immune infiltration and improve the effectiveness of CAR-T cells against solid tumors.
Delivery and imagery of microrobotic swarms in cancer therapy
Conventional nanomédicins depend mainly on passive diffusion and the increased effect of permeability and retention (EPR) for the accumulation of tumors, but increasing evidence shows that only about 0.7% of the administered nanodrugs reach solid tumors, considerably limiting their clinical efficiency. On the other hand, microrobotic swarms combine the advantages of traditional nanocarrators, such as the protection of drugs, selectivity and biocompatibility, with active propulsion capacities, which have the potential to considerably improve the administration of long -distance targeted and short -distance drugs. This review describes three long -range long -range delivery strategies (fig. 4): guided swarm navigation in real time, potential delivery of wells and autonomous mobile swarm systems. In addition, the article deals with the methods of monitoring the swarm in vivo in real time using fluorescence, ultrasound, MRI and photoacoustic imaging technologies. Above all, when these swarms reach tumor sites, they can serve as contrast agents for tumor imagery and biodens simultaneously, ultimately allowing the administration of precise drugs with space-time control.
Microrobotic swarms have allowed cancer therapy
Cancers occurring in different organs have distinct biological characteristics and corresponding processing approaches vary accordingly. This review summarizes the typical work of microrobotic swarms for the treatment of cancer of different organs. By approaching unique pathophysiological barriers such as the blood-egg-encephalic barrier in brain cancer, the architecture of branched respiratory tract in lung cancer and immunosuppressive microenvironments in liver cancer, the examination offers custom microrobotic approaches specifically designed for each organic context.
Perspectives futures
Microrobotic swarms have enormous potential to revolutionize the treatment of cancer by allowing precise and targeted administration of drugs and therapeutic monitoring in real time. However, to carry out their full clinical potential, continuous research is necessary to meet the existing challenges. Significant biocompatibility problems persist, in particular material toxicity (for example, the release of harmful ions from metallic nanoparticles), immune clearance (requiring strategies such as pegylation or CD47 marking to prolong traffic time) and the target risks (requiring magnetic navigation requiring magnetic precision). In addition, dense extracellular matrices and immunosuppressive microenvironments considerably hamper the penetration of swarm into tumors. Overcoming these obstacles requires the design of multifunctional hybrid systems, such as magnetically modified bacteria, which integrate both autonomous motility and motivated mechanisms outside (for example, magnetic and acoustic fields). Finally, although current research remains largely confined to models of small animals, clinical translation urgently requires swarm activation systems on a human scale and intelligent control platforms incorporating advanced algorithms (strengthening learning, testing intelligence) to considerably improve operational reliability and the accuracy of navigation in complex physiological environments.
