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.