Exploration of Site-Specific Drug Targeting—A Review on EPR-, Stimuli-, Chemical-, and Receptor-Based Approaches as Potential Drug Targeting Methods in Cancer Treatment

Table 2

Examples of different endogenous stimuli-based drug delivery options and their different carrier systems along with their application.

Stimulus	Carrier	Associated cargo	Application	Ref
Hypoxia	Mesoporous silica nanoparticles	Oligonucleotide (CpG) and chlorin e6	Cancer therapy to boost the immune system	[156]
	Upconversion nanoparticles	Tirapazamine and indocyanine green	Treatment of tumor by implementing photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemotherapy	[157]
	Polymeric micelles	Doxorubicin	Radiotherapy and chemotherapy for treating cancer	[158]
	Albumin nanoparticles	Oxaliplatin prodrug and Ce6	PDT and chemotherapy in cancer	[159]
Redox	Polymersomes	Doxorubicin	Chemotherapy for lung carcinoma	[160]
	Nanoparticles	Paclitaxel	Drug release by triggering GSH and targeted therapy to activate tumor	[161]
	Polyphosphazene nanoparticles	Doxorubicin	Redox-stimulated chemotherapy and photo-thermal therapy	[162]
	Nanoparticles	Catalase and photosensitizer of methylene blue	Hypoxic cancer cells are treated using H2O2-responsive drug release and a light triggering mechanism	[163]
pH	Polymeric micelles	Epirubicin	Intracellular release of drug	[164]
	CaP nanocarriers	Mn^2+	Detection of ultrasmall liver metastasis and imaging of solid tumors in addition to neutron capture therapy	[165]