Abstract
Background: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) possess adjustable aperture, high load capacities, tailorable structures, and excellent biocompatibilities for their use as drug delivery carries in cancer therapy. Until now, Zr-MOFs, in particular, combine optimal stability towards hydrolysis and post synthetic modification with low toxicity, and are widely studied for their excellentbiological performance. Introduction: This review comprises the exploration of Zr-MOFs as drug delivery devices (DDSs) with a focus on various new methods, including chemotherapy (CT), photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), sonodynamic therapy (SDT), radiotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and related combined therapies, which all generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to achieve high efficiency of tumor therapy. Conclusion: We described and summarized these pertinent examples of the therapeutic mechanisms and highlighted the antitumor effects of their biological application both in vitro and in vivo. The perspectives on their future applications and the analogous challenge of the Zr-MOFs materials are given.