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ABSTRACTIntroductionMany nanocarriers have been developed to react physicochemically to exterior stimuli like ultrasonic, light, heat, and magnetic fields, along with various internal stimuli including pH, hypoxia, enzyme, and redox potential. Nanocarriers are capable to respond various stimuli within the cancer cells to enable on-demand drug delivery, activation of bioactive compounds, controlled drug release, and targeting ligands, as well as size, charge, and conformation conversion, enabling sensing and signaling, overcoming multidrug resistance, accurate diagnosis, and precision therapy.Areas coveredCarbohydrates are ubiquitous biomolecules with a high proclivity for supramolecular network formation. Numerous carbohydrate-based nanomaterials have been used in biological solicitations and stimuli-based responses. Particular emphasis has been placed on the utilization of carbohydrate-based NPs and nanogels in various fields including imaging, drug administration, and tissue engineering. Because the assembly process is irreversible, carbohydrate-based systems are excellent ingredients for the development of stimulus-responsive nanocarriers for cancer-targeted chemotherapy. This review aims to summarise current research on carbohydrate-based nanomaterials, with an emphasis on stimuli-sensitive nanocarriers for cancer-targeted chemotherapy.Expert opinionCarbohydrates-based stimulus-responsive nanomaterials have been proved highly efficient for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs, thus leading to effective chemotherapy with minimum off-target effects.

ABSTRACTCancer is a complex process in which protein-coding and non-coding genes play essential roles. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), as a subclass of noncoding genes, are implicated in various cancer processes including growth, proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Due to presence in body fluids such as blood and urine, lncRNAs have become novel biomarkers in cancer detection, diagnosis, progression, and therapy response. Remarkably, increasing evidence has verified that lncRNAs play essential roles in chemoresistance by targeting different signalling pathways. Autophagy, a highly conserved process in response to environmental stresses such as starvation and hypoxia, plays a paradoxical role in inducing resistance or sensitivity to chemotherapy agents. In this regard, we reviewed chemoresistance, the role of lncRNAs in cancer, and the role of lncRNAs in chemoresistance by modulating autophagy.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the ancient and most accepted alternative medicinal systems in the world for the treatment of health ailments. World Health Organization recognizes TCM as one of the primary healthcare practices followed across the globe. TCM utilizes a holistic approach for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers. The tumor microenvironment (TME) surrounds cancer cells and plays pivotal roles in tumor development, growth, progression, and therapy resistance. TME is a hypoxic and acidic environment that includes immune cells, pericytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, various cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular matrix components. Targeting TME using targeted drug delivery and nanoparticles is an attractive strategy for the treatment of solid tumors and recently has received significant research attention under precise medicine concept. TME plays a pivotal role in the overall survival and metastasis of a tumor by stimulating cell proliferation, preventing the tumor clearance by the immune cells, enhancing the oncogenic potential of the cancer cells, and promoting tumor invasion. Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major causes of cancer-associated deaths affecting millions of individuals worldwide each year. TCM herbs contain several bioactive phytoconstituents with a broad range of biological, physiological, and immunological effects on the system. Several TCM herbs and their monomers have shown inhibitory effects in HCC by controlling the TME. This study reviews the fundamentals and applications of targeting strategies for immunosuppressing TME to treat cancers. This study focuses on TME targeting strategies using TCM herbs and the molecular mechanisms of several TCM herbs and their monomers on controlling TME.