Mesoporous silica nanoparticles--based functional platforms for breast cancer therapy: technological advancements

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) offer remarkable opportunities for the loading and delivery of drugs and other small molecules due to their large specific surface area, tunable mesoporous pore size, ease of modification, and excellent biocompatibility. The active silica hydroxyl groups (Si-OH) on the surface provide a good basis for a variety of modification and functionalization strategies, and thus MSNs show great potential in drug delivery systems, especially in studies involving the loading, transport, and release of anticancer drugs, particularly in the field of oncology therapeutics. The current review highlights MSNs as promising platforms for breast cancer therapy, with a special focus on the diverse applications of MSNs in breast cancer therapy, which are related to a wide range of applications with different structures and designs, functionalization strategies, prevalent synthesis methods, and potential clinical uses. Afterwards, we review targeted MSNs for enhancing precision medicine and therapeutic efficacy, and then focus on specific applications of MSNs in breast cancer therapy and various stimulus-responsive surface modifications, with specific applications including drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, combined therapeutic approaches, gene therapy, and immunotherapy. In addition, the challenges of MSNs in breast cancer and their future prospects are discussed.