Metal‐Organic Frameworks for Cancer Therapy: From Therapeutic Intervention to Monitoring and Efficacy Feedback

ABSTRACT

Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) can form a multifunctional platform for cancer therapy due to their tunable metal nodes, designable organic ligands, large surface areas, and controllable pore architectures. These features enable MOFs not only to serve as carriers for drugs, nucleic acids, and diverse therapeutic agents, but also to participate directly in local therapeutic processes through photodynamic, photothermal, and chemodynamic effects. MOF‐based platforms contribute to improved loading capacity, microenvironment responsiveness, catalytic activity, and local therapeutic efficacy, which have been widely explored in drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, chemodynamic therapy, and combination therapy recently. MOFs can also achieve tumor localization, in vivo distribution tracking, tumor marker identification, microenvironment monitoring, and treatment effect evaluation through imaging and biosensing functions. This review systematically summarizes recent advances of MOFs in cancer treatment, focusing on their roles in major therapeutic strategies and their potential as a comprehensive treatment platform that integrates treatment, monitoring, and feedback. The current challenges restricting their clinical translation are also comprehensively discussed, including issues related to the complex in vivo mechanism of action, stability, safety, and the consistency of material large‐scale preparation. Furthermore, future perspectives and development directions of advanced MOF‐based therapeutic platforms are prospected.