Soheila Ghasemi

Stimuli‐responsive hydrogels (SRHs) are versatile soft biomaterials capable of dynamically responding to environmental cues, enabling controlled and site‐specific drug release for cancer therapy. Advances in polymer chemistry and nanotechnology have facilitated the development of SRHs that respond to tumor‐associated stimuli, including pH, redox potential, temperature, enzymatic activity, light, and glucose gradients. Among these systems, pH‐ and redox‐responsive hydrogels exploit the acidic and oxidative tumor microenvironment, while thermo‐ and photo‐responsive platforms enable spatiotemporal regulation of therapeutic payloads. Recent studies have demonstrated highly efficient, stimulus‐triggered drug release and enhanced therapeutic outcomes in vitro and in vivo. This review systematically examines the design strategies, molecular mechanisms, and structure–function relationships governing SRHs in oncology. Emerging hydrogel architectures—such as injectable systems, hybrid nanocomposites, and multifunctional platforms integrating targeting or imaging capabilities—are critically discussed. Importantly, the review addresses key challenges in clinical translation, including biocompatibility, scalability, regulatory considerations, and reproducibility. Finally, future perspectives are outlined, highlighting the potential of artificial intelligence‐assisted material design, computational modeling, and wearable or implantable bioelectronic interfaces for real‐time monitoring and adaptive cancer therapy. By integrating mechanistic insights with translational and regulatory viewpoints, this review aims to guide the rational development of next‐generation smart hydrogel therapeutics for clinical oncology.

A cellulose‐based magnetic nucleophilic scavenger (Fe ₃ O ₄ @cellulose‐NH ₂ ) was developed by integrating green‐synthesized Fe ₃ O ₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with amino‐modified cellulose derived from Aloe vera . Cellulose was first extracted from the Aloe vera plant and functionalized with (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) to obtain cellulose‐NH ₂ . The Fe ₃ O ₄ MNPs were synthesized and stabilized using Verjuice as an eco‐friendly stabilizing agent, then anchored onto the cellulose‐NH ₂ matrix to form the final functional scavenger. The resulting nanocomposite exhibited desirable properties, including high adsorption capacity, ease of functional monitoring, biocompatibility, and excellent reusability. Structural and physicochemical characterization was carried out using XRD, SEM, FT‐IR, TGA, DLS, VSM, and CHN analyses. The scavenger demonstrated high efficiency in adsorbing a wide range of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes and ketones, showing significant affinity for compounds with both electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing substituents. Notably, the nanocomposite retained its adsorption efficiency over multiple reuse cycles, highlighting its potential as a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for the removal of carbonyl compounds.

In this project, a new class of temperature- and pH-sensitive hydrogel consisting of N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and acrylamide (AAm) was prepared via a controlled route through the reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization process. Poly(ethyleneglycol) dimethacrylate (PEG-DMA) was used as a long-chain hydrophilic and biocompatible crosslinking agent. The hydrogel structure was confirmed by different characteristic techniques such as ¹H NMR, FT-IR, and SEC, and the morphology and particle diameters were checked via the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods. Afterward, the as-prepared hydrogel, poly(NIPAM-co-HEMA-co-AAm), was loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) to be used as a temperature- and pH-triggered delivery carrier. The prepared system released DOX slowly at 37 °C and neutral pH, but increased DOX release significantly at 42 °C and acidic pH. The anti-cancer efficiencies of free DOX, hydrogel, and the DOX–hydrogel conjugate were tested in vitro using human colorectal adenocarcinoma HT-29 cell lines. Cytotoxicity evaluation of free DOX compared with the DOX–hydrogel conjugate revealed that more cancer cells were killed with increasing concentration. Moreover, the DOX-mediated apoptosis and ROS levels showed the beneficial effects of poly(NIPAM-co-HEMA-co-AAm) hydrogel for cancer drug delivery. Generally, the results suggest that this system can be a potential candidate for designing drug delivery systems.