外泌体越来越被认为是癌症生物学中细胞间通讯的重要介质。外泌体可以来源于癌细胞以及肿瘤微环境中的细胞成分。分泌后，携带多种生物活性物质的外泌体可以被局部或远处的受体细胞摄取。释放的货物通过多种机制发挥作用，引发多种生物效应，并影响大多数（如果不是全部）癌症特征。此外，由于其优异的生物相容性和易于工程或修饰的能力，外泌体目前被开发为癌症靶向治疗的有前景的平台。在这篇综述中，我们首先总结了目前关于外泌体在癌症风险和病因、癌症发生和进展中的作用及其潜在分子机制的知识。然后简要介绍了适配体修饰的外泌体作为癌症靶向治疗的有前景的平台。我们还讨论了外泌体在肿瘤生物学中新兴作用的未来方向以及适体修饰的外泌体在癌症治疗中的前景。© 2024。作者。

Exosomes are increasingly recognized as important mediators of intercellular communication in cancer biology. Exosomes can be derived from cancer cells as well as cellular components in tumor microenvironment. After secretion, the exosomes carrying a wide range of bioactive cargos can be ingested by local or distant recipient cells. The released cargos act through a variety of mechanisms to elicit multiple biological effects and impact most if not all hallmarks of cancer. Moreover, owing to their excellent biocompatibility and capability of being easily engineered or modified, exosomes are currently exploited as a promising platform for cancer targeted therapy. In this review, we first summarize the current knowledge of roles of exosomes in risk and etiology, initiation and progression of cancer, as well as their underlying molecular mechanisms. The aptamer-modified exosome as a promising platform for cancer targeted therapy is then briefly introduced. We also discuss the future directions for emerging roles of exosome in tumor biology and perspective of aptamer-modified exosomes in cancer therapy.© 2024. The Author(s).