Clay-polysaccharides as engineered nanoplatforms for cancer treatment

This review highlights recent advances in designing bionanocomposites that combine clay minerals with polysaccharides as multifunctional platforms for cancer therapy. Polysaccharides such as chitosan, hyaluronic acid, alginate, pectin and cellulose derivatives offer biocompatibility, biodegradability and versatile chemical functionality, while clays including montmorillonite, sepiolite, halloysite and layered double hydroxides provide high surface area, ion-exchange capacity, structural robustness and, in some cases, porosity or tubular morphologies. Their integration yields hybrid nanomaterials capable of enhancing the stability and loading of anticancer agents, enabling stimuli-responsive and site-specific drug release, and supporting complementary modalities such as hyperthermia, photothermal therapy, gene delivery and imaging. We examine structure-property relationships governing polysaccharide-clay interactions, representative drug-delivery systems based on 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, erlotinib and other therapeutics, and emerging platforms incorporating superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, metal-organic frameworks and radionuclides. Particular attention is devoted to systems developed for colon, breast, lung and skin cancer treatments. Finally, we outline the challenges hindering clinical translation, including the control of composition and architecture across multiple length scales, comprehensive evaluation of in vivo fate and safety, and the need for scalable and reproducible manufacturing. Addressing these issues should accelerate the development of clay-polysaccharide nanomedicines as complementary tools for more effective and patient-tailored cancer therapies.