Cancer nanomedicines targeting tumor extracellular pH

Tumors have been a highlight in the research of nanomedicine for decades. Despite all the efforts in the decoration of the nano systems, tumor specific targeting is still an issue due to the heterogeneous nature of tumors. Hypoxia is frequently observed in solid tumors. The consequent acidification of tumor extracellular matrices may bring new insight to tumor targeting. In this review, we present the polymeric nano systems that target tumor extracellular pH (pH(e)). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.