Application of nanoscale metal-organic coordination polymers in cancer therapy

[Display omitted] •Nanocarriers are promising platforms to improve the therapeutic agents performance.•NMCPs have excellent physical and chemical properties.•NMCPs have broad application prospects in tumor therapy due to their advantages. Nano-sized metal-organic coordination polymers (NMCPs) are network structures formed by metal ions and organic ligands using coordination forces. In recent years, NMCPs have broad application prospects in tumor therapy due to their advantages of high drug loading, flexible regulation, good therapeutic effect, small side effects, easy synergy and functional expansion. However, because it involves many disciplines, such as material science, chemistry, pharmacy, biology and medicine, there are relatively few studies in this field. In particular, systematic studies of theoretical and biological mechanisms and synergistic tumor therapy are lacking. This paper systematically summarizes the latest progress of NMCPs in recent years, including major preparation methods, surface modification, different metal coordination polymer nanomaterials and their application in tumor treatment, and proposes some future research directions to encourage researchers in various fields to participate in and work together to improve the role of NMCPs in tumor treatment. The potential of NMCPs in cancer treatment makes us believe that in the future, the characteristics and potential of NMCPs based on different elements will be explored, and efforts will be made to promote formal cancer treatment.