Tumor targeting and intratumoral penetration are long-standing issues for cancer  therapeutics.

Researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new platelet-based formulation which demonstrated potent therapeutic effects against cancer in murine models.

The scientists utilized the aggregation and activation features of the platelets to address issues of tumor targeting and intratumoral penetration.

Upon carrying photothermal nanoparticles and immunostimulators, this biomimetic formulation also achieves an efficient combination therapy against multiple types of cancer.

As a new type of delivery vector, platelets have shown their capacity to deliver cargo to tumor sites via several mechanisms, suggesting they are reasonable candidates for tumor targeting and intratumoral penetration.