Targeting strategies, clinical translation and translational barriers of liposomes in cancer therapy.

Liposomes, as nanoscale drug delivery systems, have demonstrated significant advantages in cancer therapy owing to their excellent biocompatibility, controllable drug release properties, and high versatility for chemical and structural modification. However, the clinical translation of conventional liposomal formulations remains confronted with multiple challenges, including limited targeting efficiency largely dependent on the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, restricted circulation time in vivo, and difficulties in maintaining manufacturing consistency and formulation stability. In recent years, functionalization strategies such as surface modification, ligand conjugation, multistage targeting, and biomimetic camouflage have led to substantial progress in improving drug biodistribution, enhancing tumor accumulation, and reducing systemic toxicity. Meanwhile, the development of novel biodegradable or ionizable lipids has provided additional opportunities to improve the clinical applicability of liposomal systems. This review systematically summarizes the classification of liposomes, drug-loading mechanisms, current clinical applications, and targeted functional delivery strategies, and discusses their future prospects in precision cancer therapy, providing a theoretical framework for the clinical translation of liposomal nanomedicines and the development of next-generation drug delivery systems.