ABSTRACT
Polymer-drug conjugates (PDCs) have been extensively studied as nanocarriers for anti-tumor drugs delivery due to excellent stability in circulation and high drug loading ability. Stimuli-responsive PDCs(SRPDCs) could release the loading drug in response to various intra-or extracellular biological stimulis (eg, acidic pH, altered redox potential, and upregulated enzyme), as well as external artificial stimulis (eg, magnetic feld, light, temperature, and ultrasound), which are considered as "smart" nanocarriers for delivery of anti-tumor drugs. In this article, recent progresses in the development of SRPDCs for cancer therapy are reviewed, covering the design, smart linkages as well as responsive drug release property, so as to provide reference for the development of related drug delivery systems. In order to improve the successful translation of stimuli-responsive PDCs, drawbacks and limitations of current researches are discussed, besides, future perspectives and research strategies are also provided.