Jain A, Verma S, Jadhav A, John S, Gupta S. Role of nanotechnology in modulating the tumor microenvironment to enhance immunotherapy efficacy. World J Clin Oncol 2026; 17(1): 111294 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i1.111294]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Shalini Gupta, PhD, Full Professor, Head, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, King George’s Medical University, Shah Mina Road, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India. dr.shalni@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Cell Biology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jan 24, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 28, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Clinical Oncology
ISSN
2218-4333
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Jain A, Verma S, Jadhav A, John S, Gupta S. Role of nanotechnology in modulating the tumor microenvironment to enhance immunotherapy efficacy. World J Clin Oncol 2026; 17(1): 111294 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i1.111294]
Ayushi Jain, Department of Dentistry, Kalyan Singh Government Medical College, Bulandshahr 203001, Uttar Pradesh, India
Saloni Verma, Sharon John, Shalini Gupta, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Alisha Jadhav, Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Author contributions: Jain A and Verma S reviewed the literature and wrote the original draft; Jadhav A, John S, and Gupta S validated and analyzed the results; All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known conflict of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shalini Gupta, PhD, Full Professor, Head, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, King George’s Medical University, Shah Mina Road, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India. dr.shalni@gmail.com
Received: June 27, 2025 Revised: August 14, 2025 Accepted: November 20, 2025 Published online: January 24, 2026 Processing time: 207 Days and 18.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Oral squamous cell carcinoma exhibits a highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) that severely limits immunotherapy efficacy. This review highlighted how nanotechnology offers transformative strategies to overcome key TME barriers. Specifically, engineered nanoparticles can reprogram tumor-associated macrophages, alleviate hypoxia via oxygen-generating carriers, disrupt cancer-associated fibroblasts and extracellular matrix, and deliver targeted therapies (e.g., human papillomavirus E6/E7 small interfering RNA). Oral squamous cell carcinoma-tailored approaches also counteract carcinogen-induced oxidative stress and microbiota-driven immunosuppression. These innovations enable precise TME remodeling to enhance immune cell infiltration and checkpoint inhibitor performance, representing a paradigm shift towards improving clinical outcomes in oral cancer immunotherapy.
