Cancer thermal therapy, also known as hyperthermia therapy, has long been exploited to eradicate mass lesions that are now defined as cancer. With the development of corresponding technologies and equipment, local hyperthermia therapies such as radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, and high-intensity focused ultrasound, have has been validated to effectively ablate tumors in modern clinical practice. However, they still face many shortcomings, including nonspecific damages to adjacent normal tissues and incomplete ablation particularly for large tumors, restricting their wide clinical usage. Attributed to their versatile physiochemical properties, biomaterials have been specially designed to potentiate local hyperthermia treatments according to their unique working principles. Meanwhile, biomaterial-based delivery systems are able to bridge hyperthermia therapies with other types of treatment strategies such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Therefore, in this review, we discuss recent progress in the development of functional biomaterials to reinforce local hyperthermia by functioning as thermal sensitizers to endow more efficient tumor-localized thermal ablation and/or as delivery vehicles to synergize with other therapeutic modalities for combined cancer treatments. Thereafter, we provide a critical perspective on the further development of biomaterial-assisted local hyperthermia toward clinical applications.

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合理设计生物材料以增强癌症热疗法

癌症热疗法，也称为热疗，长期以来一直被用来根除现在被定义为癌症的肿块病变。随着相应技术和设备的发展，射频消融、微波消融、高强度聚焦超声等局部热疗已在现代临床实践中被证实可以有效消融肿瘤。然而，它们仍然面临许多缺点，包括对邻近正常组织的非特异性损伤以及特别是对于大肿瘤的消融不完全，限制了其广泛的临床应用。由于其多功能的理化特性，生物材料经过专门设计，可根据其独特的工作原理增强局部热疗治疗。同时，基于生物材料的输送系统能够将热疗疗法与化疗、放疗和免疫疗法等其他类型的治疗策略结合起来。因此，在这篇综述中，我们讨论了功能性生物材料开发的最新进展，通过充当热敏剂来增强局部热疗，从而赋予更有效的肿瘤局部热消融和/或作为递送载体与其他治疗方式协同进行癌症联合治疗。此后，我们为生物材料辅助局部热疗的临床应用的进一步发展提供了重要的视角。我们讨论了功能性生物材料开发的最新进展，通过充当热敏剂来增强局部热疗，从而赋予更有效的肿瘤局部热消融和/或作为传递载体与其他治疗方式协同进行癌症联合治疗。此后，我们为生物材料辅助局部热疗的临床应用的进一步发展提供了重要的视角。我们讨论了功能性生物材料开发的最新进展，通过充当热敏剂来增强局部热疗，从而赋予更有效的肿瘤局部热消融和/或作为传递载体与其他治疗方式协同进行癌症联合治疗。此后，我们为生物材料辅助局部热疗的临床应用的进一步发展提供了重要的视角。