Nanosystems for Immunotherapeutic Drug Delivery

Advances in engineered nanoformulations for immunotherapeutic drug delivery have accompanied the rapidly growing interest in clinical immunotherapy. Several material systems have been developed that confer improved efficacy by overcoming delivery barriers detrimental to drug bioactivity. Notable examples include strategies that prolong drug circulation times and enhance the delivery of immunotherapeutic drugs to lymphoid tissues enriched in immune cells important in the initiation and regulation of immune response. The utility of material nanoformulations to facilitate co-delivery of multiple drugs with synergistic activity has also been demonstrated, as has the potential for drug delivery and immunotherapeutic activity to be enhanced via receptor-mediated targeting. Important innovations have furthermore led to the development of triggered drug release mechanisms that increase the control of drug bioactivity within targeted subcellular compartments and/or tissues. This chapter details how materials engineering, formulation design, and delivery schemes have improved immunological outcomes in a variety of therapeutic applications.