From Biomedical Mechanisms to Clinical Applications: Research Progress in Plant-Derived Vesicles for Cancer Therapy

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoscale membranous structures secreted by cells, which carry bioactive molecules (eg, lipids, proteins, miRNAs) and facilitate intercellular communication. Recently, EVs have emerged as natural drug delivery systems. While early research focused on mammalian or bacterial EVs, concerns regarding safety, ethics, and cost limit their clinical translation. Plant-derived vesicles (PDVs), isolated from fruits, vegetables, or medicinal herbs, overcome these issues due to their abundant sources, cost-effectiveness, and favorable safety profile. PDVs from plants like citrus, ginger, and ginseng exhibit inherent anticancer effects by inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis. However, PDV research remains nascent and faces major challenges: (1) Scalable production is inefficient, with current isolation methods yielding impurities and batch variations. (2) Unified markers and classification criteria are lacking, hindering data standardization. (3) High heterogeneity and the absence of systematic databases impede matching PDV sources to specific diseases. (4) Safety assessment frameworks are urgently needed, including contraindications and pharmacokinetic studies. This review summarizes the preparation methods, physicochemical properties, anticancer mechanisms, and drug delivery applications of PDVs, while addressing these challenges and future prospects.