ReviewKeynoteRecent advances in hyaluronic acid-decorated nanocarriers for targeted cancer therapy

- CD44 receptor is overexpressed in highly invasive stem-like cancer cells (SLCS).
- CD44 receptors have high affinity toward hyaluronic acid (HA) binding.
- Recent advances using HA based nanocarriers for cancer therapy are discussed.
- HA decorated nanocarries shown great promise for future applications in cancer therapy.

The cluster-determinant 44 (CD44) receptor has a high affinity for hyaluronic acid (HA) binding and is a desirable receptor for active targeting based on its overexpression in cancer cells compared with normal body cells. The nanocarrier affinity can be increased by conjugating drug-loaded carriers with HA, allowing enhanced cancer cell uptake via the HA-CD44 receptor-mediated endocytosis pathway. In this review, we discuss recent advances in HA-based nanocarriers and micelles for cancer therapy. In vitro and in vivo experiments have repeatedly indicated HA-based nanocarriers to be a target-specific drug and gene delivery platform with great promise for future applications in clinical cancer therapy.