Zhu Lanqi, Qiao Guanlin, Gao Huiyang, Jiang Aowei, Zhang Linan, Wang Xiaobing
The First Clinical Medical College, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
Front Oncol. 2025 Apr 17;15:1590534. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1590534. eCollection 2025.
Melanoma is highly invasive and resistant to conventional treatments, accounting for nearly 75% of skin cancer-related deaths globally. Traditional therapies, such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy, often exhibit limited efficacy and are associated with significant side effects due to systemic drug exposure. Microneedles (MNs), as an emerging drug delivery system, offer multiple advantages, including safety, painlessness, minimal invasiveness, and controlled drug release. Among these, hydrogel microneedles (HMNs) stand out due to their extracellular matrix-like structure and swelling-induced continuous hydrogel channels, which enable the direct delivery of therapeutic agents into the tumor microenvironment (TME). This approach enhances drug bioavailability while reducing systemic toxicity, establishing HMNs as a promising platform for melanoma treatment. This review highlights recent advancements in HMNs for melanoma therapy, focusing on their applications in biomarker extraction for early diagnosis and their role in supporting multimodal treatment strategies, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, phototherapy, targeted therapy, and combination therapy. Furthermore, the current matrix materials and fabrication techniques for HMNs are discussed. Finally, the limitations of HMNs in melanoma treatment are critically analyzed, and recommendations for future research and development are provided.
黑色素瘤具有高度侵袭性，且对传统治疗方法耐药，在全球皮肤癌相关死亡病例中占近75%。传统疗法，如化疗和免疫疗法，往往疗效有限，且由于全身药物暴露会产生显著副作用。微针作为一种新兴的药物递送系统，具有多种优势，包括安全性高、无痛、微创以及药物释放可控。其中，水凝胶微针因其类似细胞外基质的结构和肿胀诱导的连续水凝胶通道脱颖而出，这些通道能够将治疗剂直接递送至肿瘤微环境（TME）。这种方法提高了药物的生物利用度，同时降低了全身毒性，使水凝胶微针成为一种有前景的黑色素瘤治疗平台。本综述重点介绍了水凝胶微针在黑色素瘤治疗方面的最新进展，聚焦于其在早期诊断生物标志物提取中的应用以及在支持多模式治疗策略（如化疗、免疫疗法、光疗、靶向疗法和联合疗法）中的作用。此外，还讨论了当前水凝胶微针的基质材料和制备技术。最后，对水凝胶微针在黑色素瘤治疗中的局限性进行了批判性分析，并提供了未来研发的建议。
