Nanomaterials-Guided Metabolism–Immunity Crosstalk for Boosting Cancer Immunotherapy

Although immunotherapy displays potent momentum in cancer treatment, its efficacy is limited due to tumor metabolic reprogramming. Aberrant tumor metabolism is pivotal in sustaining tumorigenesis and resulting in immunosuppression, achieved by the secretion of immunosuppressive metabolites as well as the metabolic competition between tumor cells and immune cells. Therefore, interfering with metabolism-immunity crosstalk via regulating tumor cell and immune cell metabolism is a promising strategy for potentiating antitumor immunity. Nanomaterials have been widely applied in cancer therapy as delivery vehicles due to their small size effect, good biocompatibility, high drug bioavailability, and facile synthesis for on-demand release. In this review, tumor metabolic patterns, including glucose metabolism, amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and nucleotide metabolism, along with their characteristics, are first reviewed. The recent progress in nanomaterials-based immunometabolism inhibition of tumor cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, and tumor-associated macrophages, and the metabolism reinforcement of dendritic cells and T lymphocytes, is then systematically summarized. The limitations, challenges, as well as future perspectives of nanomaterials-guided metabolism-immunity crosstalk are highlighted, underscoring the clinical translation needs of future studies.