Open Access

REVIEW

Research Progress of Drug Delivery Systems Consisting of Hydrogels Loaded with Extracellular Vesicles in Tumor Therapy

Shaojian Zou^1,#, Lipeng Zhang^2,#, Xiang Chen^3,#, Zhuomin Wang², Xinhui Zhu², Dandong Luo⁴, Shengxun Mao^2,*, Zhen Zong^2,*

1 Huan Kui Academy, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, China
2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, China
3 The First Clinic Medical College, School of Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, China
4 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of General Surgery, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510655, China

* Corresponding Authors: Shengxun Mao. Email: ; Zhen Zong. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: New Insights in Drug Resistance of Cancer Therapy: A New Wine in an Old Bottle)

Oncology Research 2025, 33(12), 3753-3788. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2025.067586

Received 07 May 2025; Accepted 24 September 2025; Issue published 27 November 2025

Abstract

Traditional cancer therapies have limitations like poor efficacy on advanced tumors, healthy tissue damage, side effects, and drug resistance, creating an urgent need for new strategies. Hydrogels have good biocompatibility and controlled release, while extracellular vesicles (EVs) enable targeting and bioactive transport. This review systematically summarizes hydrogels and EVs, focusing on the construction of hydrogel-EV delivery system, key influencing factors, drug delivery mechanisms, and tumor therapy apps, clarifying their synergies. The system overcomes single-carrier flaws, construction methods/key factors affect performance, preclinical studies have confirmed efficacy in multiple therapies, but large-scale production and in vivo stability challenges remain, yet it promises to overcome the limits of traditional therapy for precision oncology.

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Keywords

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