Multi-responsive Materials: Properties, Design, and Applications

Single-responsive biomaterials have been of great importance for three decades in biomedical applications and cancer therapy in particular. However, the need for improvement in their efficiency and therapeutic results can still be felt. Evolved from these nanocarriers, multi-responsive ones have gained immense attention recently because of their multifunctionality--targetability, hyperthermia, ROS generation, smart and controlled drug release, and imaging. Due to complex structure of cancerous tumors, these nanomaterials are more applied in this field with more promising outcomes under a term called combined therapy. Multi-responsive nanocarriers are divided into three main groups: endogenous or internal, exogenous or external, and the integration of both. This chapter focuses on nanomaterials responsive to more than one stimulus in cancer therapy. The internal (pH, enzyme, GSH, etc.), external (light, ultrasound, magnetism, etc.), and combination of both are covered separately.