Exosomes and Extracellular Vesicles in Oncology: Next-Generation Smart Nanocarriers for Precision Cancer Therapy.
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
- 2Department of Basic Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
- 3Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
- 4Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacy Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia.
- 5Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
Exosomes are an evolved sub-type of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that have gained popularity in recent years as a novel biological nanocarrier system for targeted precision therapy in cancer owing to their excellent biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and high stability. While other artificial systems can only deliver specific types of drug, exosomes have been found to effectively carry different types of therapeutic cargo, such as chemotherapeutic agents, proteins, peptides, mRNA, siRNA, miRNA, and even CRISPR/Cas gene editing elements. Recent progress in exosome engineering technologies, such as surface modification, donor cell modification, bionic hybrid vesicles, and stimuli-responsive exosomes, has improved their targeting efficacy, cargo-loading capacity, and controlled drug release properties. Apart from their therapeutic use, exosomes play an active role in promoting tumor development by regulating the tumor microenvironment, angiogenesis, metastasis, immune escape, maintenance of cancer stem cells, and drug resistance. This review provides a brief insight into the biological properties of exosomes, recent developments in isolation and characterization methods, engineering approaches, therapeutic cargo loading, and their uses in targeted chemotherapy, gene and RNA therapy, immunotherapy, phototherapy, sonodynamic therapy, chemo-dynamic therapy, and combinational therapy. Moreover, the existing issues in exosome research, such as exosome heterogeneity, large-scale production, quality control, and regulatory issues, are addressed. Finally, new approaches involving artificial intelligence, multi-omics technology, and personalized engineering of exosomes are presented as potential solutions to enhance the clinical use of exosomes.
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BibTeX
@article{khan2026exosomes,
title = {{Exosomes and Extracellular Vesicles in Oncology: Next-Generation Smart Nanocarriers for Precision Cancer Therapy.}},
author = {Mohd Masih Uzzaman Khan and Masood Alam Khan and Mohd Azam and Muhammad Afzal and Tariq G Alsahli},
journal = {Cells},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/cells15191812},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882510},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Exosomes and Extracellular Vesicles in Oncology: Next-Generation Smart Nanocarriers for Precision Cancer Therapy.
AU - Mohd Masih Uzzaman Khan
AU - Masood Alam Khan
AU - Mohd Azam
AU - Muhammad Afzal
AU - Tariq G Alsahli
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/04
JO - Cells
DO - 10.3390/cells15191812
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882510
AB - Exosomes are an evolved sub-type of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that have gained popularity in recent years as a novel biological nanocarrier system for targeted precision therapy in cancer owing to their excellent biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and high stability. While other artificial systems can only deliver specific types of drug, exosomes have been found to effectively carry different types of therapeutic cargo, such as chemotherapeutic agents, proteins, peptides, mRNA, siRNA, miRNA, and even CRISPR/Cas gene editing elements. Recent progress in exosome engineering technologies, such as surface modification, donor cell modification, bionic hybrid vesicles, and stimuli-responsive exosomes, has improved their targeting efficacy, cargo-loading capacity, and controlled drug release properties. Apart from their therapeutic use, exosomes play an active role in promoting tumor development by regulating the tumor microenvironment, angiogenesis, metastasis, immune escape, maintenance of cancer stem cells, and drug resistance. This review provides a brief insight into the biological properties of exosomes, recent developments in isolation and characterization methods, engineering approaches, therapeutic cargo loading, and their uses in targeted chemotherapy, gene and RNA therapy, immunotherapy, phototherapy, sonodynamic therapy, chemo-dynamic therapy, and combinational therapy. Moreover, the existing issues in exosome research, such as exosome heterogeneity, large-scale production, quality control, and regulatory issues, are addressed. Finally, new approaches involving artificial intelligence, multi-omics technology, and personalized engineering of exosomes are presented as potential solutions to enhance the clinical use of exosomes.
SN - 2073-4409
ER -