# Research Progress of Polysaccharide-Gold Nanocomplexes in Drug Delivery
## 7 Future Perspectives and Conclusions  
Polysaccharides are widely occurring substances and have diverse applications in adjuvant and antitumor therapies. Natural polysaccharides such as hyaluronic acid, chitosan, glycerrhiza glabra, astragali polysaccharides, and ginseng polysaccharides are increasingly utilized in drug delivery for oncology treatments. Polysaccharide-AuNPs provide a versatile platform for delivering various drugs, including proteins, nucleic acids, and macromolecules. Modifying the surface of polysaccharide-AuNPs with different materials can improve drug targeting capability. The unique properties of AuNPs, including surface plasmon resonance, enable polysaccharide-AuNPs to exhibit a photothermal effect. This effect facilitates drug release in specific tissues upon NIR light irradiation. Additionally, polysaccharide-AuNPs can respond to stimuli such as pH, enzymes, and lasers, enabling efficient drug release at specific locations and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. Although the drug delivery efficiency of polysaccharide-AuNPs is already considerable, surface modification can further strengthen this efficiency. Moreover, surface modification can facilitate targeting, enabling drug release in specific tissues. The response of polysaccharide-AuNPs to various stimuli also improves the efficiency of drug targeting and release. Ongoing research on natural polysaccharides supports the increasing use of natural polysaccharide-AuNPs in drug delivery and antitumor therapies. These advancements can significantly improve tumor treatment and enhance the therapeutic effects of drugs. The utilization of polysaccharide-coated AuNPs (AuNPs) as drug delivery vehicles presents both opportunities and challenges. Polysaccharides such as chitosan and dextran are attractive materials for biomedical applications due to their favorable biocompatibility, biodegradability and low toxicity. When these polysaccharides are used to coat AuNPs, they can provide a stable and biocompatible platform for delivering therapeutic drugs. However, current applications of polysaccharide-coated AuNPs face challenges in terms of stability, size and shape control, targeted and selective drug delivery, immunogenicity and biocompatibility, and clinical trial safety. Although polysaccharide-coated AuNPs can provide stability and sustained drug release, there is no guarantee that nanoparticle stability will be maintained during in vivo storage and circulation. Therefore, controlling the size and shape of polysaccharide-coated AuNPs is critical to ensure proper drug loading and release profiles. In addition, functionalization of polysaccharide coatings may be required to achieve targeted drug delivery while avoiding off-target effects. Finally, there are fewer studies on the natural sources of plant polysaccharide-AuNPs, and it is worthwhile to further explore the potential herbal sources of polysaccharides and their applications in various aspects such as antitumor. Addressing the challenges of polysaccharide-coated AuNPs as drug delivery vehicles requires a multidisciplinary effort from materials science, pharmacology, and biomedical engineering to fully realize their potential for therapeutic applications. M.S. : conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, software, validation, visualization, writing--original draft; A.A.: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, software, validation, visualization; E.D. : data curation, formal analysis, investigation, software, validation; J.L. ([PERSON]): formal analysis, investigation, software, validation, visualization; G.X. : formal analysis, investigation, software, validation, visualization; Z.J. : formal analysis, investigation, software, validation, visualization, writing--review and editing; Z.F.