Zinc oxide nanoparticles from drug delivery to immunomodulation: progress and challenges

Crucially, ZnO demonstrates a strong immunomodulatory capability, promoting T-cell activation and dendritic cell maturation necessary to reverse the 'cold' tumor microenvironment often associated with solid and deep-seated tumors. Overall, ZnO NPs offer revolutionary therapeutic prospects for novel anticancer treatments, provided that challenges regarding long-term stability and controlled degradability are addressed in future works for clinical translation.