Immunotherapy has emerged as an eminent and effective modality in the treatment of cancer. However, current cancer immunotherapies lack spatial and temporal control, resulting in systemic side effects and suboptimal patient outcomes. Responsive biomaterials have proven to be powerful tools for controlling cancer immunotherapies by providing precise control over the delivery and kinetics of immunotherapeutic cargoes. Here, we discuss biological barriers to cancer immunotherapy and how biomaterial-based strategies that respond to different stimuli — both internal and external — can be used to increase the therapeutic efficacy while reducing the toxicity of cancer immunotherapies. We examine the use of biomaterials that respond to physiological stimuli (pH, enzymes and redox potential) and exogenous energetic stimuli (light, magnetism and ultrasound) and expand upon the use of these strategies in propagating three key approaches in cancer immunotherapy: cancer vaccines, T cell-based therapy and therapies involving sustained delivery.

免疫疗法已成为治疗癌症的一种杰出且有效的方式。然而，当前的癌症免疫疗法缺乏空间和时间控制，导致全身副作用和患者预后不佳。响应性生物材料已被证明是通过提供对免疫治疗货物的递送和动力学的精确控制来控制癌症免疫治疗的强大工具。在这里，我们讨论癌症免疫疗法的生物障碍，以及如何使用基于生物材料的策略来响应不同的刺激（内部和外部）来提高治疗效果，同时降低癌症免疫疗法的毒性。我们研究了对生理刺激（pH、酶和氧化还原电位）和外源能量刺激（光、磁和超声波）做出反应的生物材料的使用，并扩展了这些策略在癌症免疫治疗中传播三种关键方法的使用：癌症疫苗、基于 T 细胞的疗法和涉及持续递送的疗法。