Background <p>Targeted therapy is an excellent treatment strategy. Not only is it highly effective, but also it reduces the adverse effects. Among them, homing peptides, as one of the targeted parts, have received increasing attention in recent years. Distinguished from antibodies with high specificity and long half-life, homing peptides have better drug-carrying potency and tissue penetrating ability.</p> Purpose <p>This review aims to discuss recent research advances in homing peptide-targeted therapies, including their structure, the modification of homing peptides with their coupling therapeutic molecules, as well as the use of homing peptides in a variety of diseases. Particularly, the application of homing peptides in different tumors has been elaborated in detail.</p> Methods <p>This review discusses the structural features of homing peptides, the use of phage display library screening to identify homing peptides, and the application of homing peptides as targeting vectors. In particular, the application of homing peptides in various tumors is discussed in some detail.</p> Results <p>Homing peptide, as a kind of targeting part in targeted therapy, has a good application prospect.</p> Conclusion <p>Overall, this review highlights the importance of homing peptides as carriers of targeted therapies and provides new ideas for investigating new therapeutic approaches for various diseases.</p>