Antitumor Agents Based on Metal–Organic Frameworks

Abstract Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) hold great promise for biomedical applications owing to their unique properties. The porous structures make MOFs excellent candidates for the delivery of different drugs; the flexibility in choosing metal ions and organic ligands makes it feasible to prepare MOFs with intrinsic antitumor activities and further devise MOF–drug synergistic systems; many other types of antitumor agents could also be developed using MOFs as the precursors/templates. Thus, the past two decades have witnessed the great development of MOF‐based drugs, especially in the antitumor field. This Minireview mainly focuses on the design and applications of MOF‐based antitumor agents. Four aspects covering the whole field are introduced: MOFs as carriers, MOFs as antitumor agents, MOF–drug synergistic systems, and MOF‐derived antitumor agents. The challenges and opportunities of MOFs for clinical antitumor applications are also discussed.