As an emerging and promising treatment method, gas
therapy has attracted more and more attention for treatment of
inflammation-related diseases, especially
cancer. However, therapeutic/
therapy-assisted
gases (NO, CO, H2S, H2, O2, SO2 and CO2) and most of their
prodrugs lack the abilities of active intratumoral accumulation and controlled gas release, resulting in limited
cancer therapy efficacy and potential side effects. Therefore, development of nanomedicines to realize
tumor-targeted and controlled release of therapeutic/
therapy-assisted
gases is greatly desired, and also the combination of other therapeutic modes with gas
therapy by multifunctional nanocarrier platforms can augment
cancer therapy efficacy and also reduce their side effects. The design of nanomedicines with these functions is vitally important, but challenging. In this review, we summarize a series of engineering strategies for construction of advanced gas-releasing nanomedicines from four aspects: (1) stimuli-responsive strategies for controlled gas release; (2) catalytic strategies for controlled gas release; (3)
tumor-targeted gas delivery strategies; (4) multi-model combination strategies based on gas
therapy. Moreover, we highlight current issues and gaps in knowledge, and envisage current trends and future prospects of advanced nanomedicines for gas
therapy of
cancer. This review aims to inspire and guide the engineering of advanced gas-releasing nanomedicines.