Functionally modified PVA microspheres empowering emerging interventional combination therapies: Design, adaptation, and advances in clinical research--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Functionally modified PVA microspheres empowering emerging interventional combination therapies: Design, adaptation, and advances in clinical research

Tong Zhang^a, Hongyu Wang^a, Fei Wang^a, Luying Wang^{a b}, Jing Liu^{a b}, Jiandu Lei^{a b *}

a Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, College of Material Science and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China
b MOE Engineering Research Center of Forestry Biomass Materials and Bioenergy, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

10.1016/j.partic.2026.08.035

Volume 118, Received 3 April 2026, Revised 26 June 2026, Accepted 27 August 2026, Available online 31 August 2026, Version of Record 21 September 2026., Pages 325-349

November 2026

E-mail: ljd2012@bjfu.edu.cn

Highlights

• Reviews three key modification strategies for PVA microspheres.

• Transforms passive embolic fillers into active therapeutic platforms.

• Elaborates synergy with four emerging interventional therapies.

• Establishes a framework for multimodal precise intervention.

• Categorizes clinical applications and forecasts intelligent trends.

Abstract

The rapid advancement of precision combined interventional therapies raises higher requirements for the functional integration and clinical adaptability of medical carrier materials. With excellent biocompatibility, mechanical stability, and structural modifiability, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) microspheres are core carriers for tumor interventional embolization. Their prominent strengths cover excellent biocompatibility, stable mechanical performance, and flexible structural modifiability. Conventional unmodified PVA microspheres have obvious inherent limitations. They lack specific tumor-targeting capacity, cannot realize precise on-demand drug release, and only retain a single embolization function. These drawbacks prevent them from adapting to multi-modal combined clinical schemes, including immunotherapy, gene therapy, and energy conversion synergistic treatment. Focusing on the functional modification of PVA microspheres, this review summarizes three major strategies, illustrates their synergistic mechanisms with emerging therapies, and presents applications in tumor treatment, vascular intervention, and regenerative repair. This work identifies three specific bottlenecks hindering the clinical translation of functionalized PVA microspheres: insufficient long-term biocompatibility validation data from standardized large-animal models, poor batch consistency, and high manufacturing costs under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant scale-up production, and protracted, complex regulatory approval workflows for multifunctional drug-device combination medical devices. This review provides novel research perspectives and operable design guidance for basic material exploration and subsequent clinical transformation, and facilitates the upgrade of interventional medicine into an integrated system that realizes synchronous embolization, local tumor therapy, and real-time lesion monitoring.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Polyvinyl alcohol microspheres; Functional modification; Precision interventional therapy; Combination therapy

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