Abstract Artificial cells have emerged as a class of promising bioactive materials that recapitulate key structural and functional features of natural cells, serving as an effective alternative to address the inherent bottlenecks of conventional biomaterials in biomedical research, particularly in cancer theranostics. Fabricated primarily via bottom‐up strategies, these bioactive constructs enable modular assembly of functional biomaterials to build hierarchical systems spanning artificial organelles, diverse artificial cells and prototissues, endowing artificial cells with tuneable mechanical properties, programmable environmental responsiveness and precise targeted delivery capabilities. Unlike traditional cancer diagnostic and therapeutic agents that suffer from poor tumour specificity, rapid systemic clearance and severe off‐target effects, artificial cells leverage their biomimetic design to achieve prolonged circulatory retention, precise tumour site accumulation, and controlled release of diagnostic probes and therapeutic payloads. This review systematically explores the major types of artificial cells, modular bottom‐up construction methods, and advanced biomimetic behaviours of artificial cell systems. Additionally, it highlights their cutting‐edge applications in integrated cancer theranostics, including tumour biomarker sensing, targeted drug delivery, and immunomodulatory therapy. Finally, the review addresses key challenges and future directions to accelerate their clinical translation in oncology.
Wu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.