Intelligent Nanocomposite Hydrogels: Bridging Smart Design and Personalized Cancer Therapy

Stimuli-responsive nanocomposite hydrogels represent a transformative class of biomaterials at the intersection of nanotechnology, polymer chemistry, and oncology. By integrating nanoscale building blocks into hydrated three-dimensional polymeric networks, these systems offer mechanical reinforcement, tunable responsiveness, and biomimetic environments that closely resemble the extracellular matrix. Among the most promising applications is cancer therapy, where the tumor microenvironment provides exploitable physicochemical cues such as acidity, temperature gradients, and redox imbalance. This review highlights the advances in temperature-sensitive, pH-sensitive, multi-stimuli responsive, and graphene-based nanocomposite hydrogels, with particular emphasis on their mechanisms of drug release, structural design, and therapeutic outcomes. Emerging strategies demonstrate superior tumor selectivity, improved pharmacokinetics, and the ability to overcome multidrug resistance compared with conventional delivery approaches. Despite significant preclinical progress, translational barriers-including safety, large-scale manufacturing, and regulatory complexities remain formidable. Future directions will prioritize multifunctional theranostic platforms, biomimetic engineering, and sustainable material innovations to accelerate clinical adoption of these next- generation cancer nanomedicines.

Keywords:

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels , nanocomposites , drug delivery , tumor microenvironment , temperature-sensitive polymers