The nonradiative conversion of light energy into heat (photothermal therapy, PTT) or sound energy (photoacoustic imaging, PAI) has been intensively investigated for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, respectively. By taking advantage of nanocarriers, both imaging and therapeutic functions together with enhanced tumour accumulation have been thoroughly studied to improve the pre-clinical efficiency of PAI and PTT. In this review, we first summarize the development of inorganic and organic nano photothermal transduction agents (PTAs) and strategies for improving the PTT outcomes, including applying appropriate laser dosage, guiding the treatment via imaging techniques, developing PTAs with absorption in the second NIR window, increasing photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE), and also increasing the accumulation of PTAs in tumours. Second, we introduce the advantages of combining PTT with other therapies in cancer treatment. Third, the emerging applications of PAI in cancer-related research are exemplified. Finally, the perspectives and challenges of PTT and PAI for combating cancer, especially regarding their clinical translation, are discussed. We believe that PTT and PAI having noteworthy features would become promising next-generation non-invasive cancer theranostic techniques and improve our ability to combat cancers.

/pdf/photothermal-therapy-and-photoacoustic-imaging-via-5cxqag870v.pdf

Photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging via nanotheranostics in fighting cancer

The complexity, diversity, and heterogeneity of tumors seriously undermine the therapeutic potential of treatment. Therefore, the current trend in clinical research has gradually shifted from a focus on monotherapy to combination therapy for enhanced treatment efficacy. More importantly, the cooperative enhancement interactions between several types of monotherapy contribute to the naissance of multimodal synergistic therapy, which results in remarkable superadditive (namely “1 + 1 > 2”) effects, stronger than any single therapy or their theoretical combination. In this review, state-of-the-art studies concerning recent advances in nanotechnology-mediated multimodal synergistic therapy will be systematically discussed, with an emphasis on the construction of multifunctional nanomaterials for realizing bimodal and trimodal synergistic therapy as well as the intensive exploration of the underlying synergistic mechanisms for explaining the significant improvements in synergistic therapeutic outcome. Furtherm...

Nanotechnology for Multimodal Synergistic Cancer Therapy

Ti3C2 MXene is a new two-dimensional material exhibiting a variety of novel properties including good photothermal effect, and the capability of Ti3C2 for multimodal tumor therapy is in urgent need of development. Herein, ultrathin Ti3C2 MXene nanosheets (∼100 nm) have been synthesized by supplying additive Al3+ to avoid Al loss and employed as a photothermal/photodynamic agent for cancer therapy. The as-obtained nanosheets exhibit outstanding mass extinction coefficient (28.6 Lg–1 cm–1 at 808 nm), superior photothermal conversion efficiency (∼58.3%), and effective singlet oxygen generation (1O2) upon 808 nm laser irradiation. Based on these Ti3C2 nanosheets, a multifunctional nanoplatform (Ti3C2-DOX) is established via layer-by-layer surface modification with doxorubicin (DOX) and hyaluronic acid (HA). In vitro and in vivo experiments disclose that Ti3C2-DOX shows enhanced biocompatibility, tumor specific accumulation, and stimuli-responsive drug release behavior and achieve effective cancer cell killing...

Surface Modified Ti3C2 MXene Nanosheets for Tumor Targeting Photothermal/Photodynamic/Chemo Synergistic Therapy

Precise nanomedicine has been extensively explored for efficient cancer imaging and targeted cancer therapy, as evidenced by a few breakthroughs in their preclinical and clinical explorations. Here, we demonstrate the recent advances of intelligent cancer nanomedicine, and discuss the comprehensive understanding of their structure-function relationship for smart and efficient cancer nanomedicine including various imaging and therapeutic applications, as well as nanotoxicity. In particular, a few emerging strategies that have advanced cancer nanomedicine are also highlighted as the emerging focus such as tumor imprisonment, supramolecular chemotherapy, and DNA nanorobot. The challenge and outlook of some scientific and engineering issues are also discussed in future development. We wish to highlight these new progress of precise nanomedicine with the ultimate goal to inspire more successful explorations of intelligent nanoparticles for future clinical translations.

Precise nanomedicine for intelligent therapy of cancer

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a fledgling therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment with minimal invasiveness but clinical adoption has been stifled by concerns such as insufficient biodegradability of the PTT agents and lack of an efficient delivery system. Here, black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets are incorporated with a thermosensitive hydrogel [poly(d,l-lactide)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d,l-lactide) (PDLLA-PEG-PDLLA: PLEL)] to produce a new PTT system for postoperative treatment of cancer. The BP@PLEL hydrogel exhibits excellent near infrared (NIR) photothermal performance and a rapid NIR-induced sol-gel transition as well as good biodegradability and biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo. Based on these merits, an in vivo PTT postoperative treatment strategy is established. Under NIR irradiation, the sprayed BP@PLEL hydrogel enables rapid gelation forming a gelled membrane on wounds and offers high PTT efficacy to eliminate residual tumor tissues after tumor removal surgery. Furthermore, the good photothermal antibacterial performance prevents infection and this efficient and biodegradable PTT system is very promising in postoperative treatment of cancer.

/pdf/black-phosphorus-incorporated-hydrogel-as-a-sprayable-and-dy8y8iso6w.pdf

Black-Phosphorus-Incorporated Hydrogel as a Sprayable and Biodegradable Photothermal Platform for Postsurgical Treatment of Cancer

Sub-3 nm ultrasmall Bi2Se3 nanodots stabilized with bovine serum albumin were successfully synthesized through a reaction of hydroxyethylthioselenide with bismuth chloride in aqueous solution under ambient conditions. These nanodots exhibit a high photothermal conversion efficiency (η = 50.7%) due to their strong broad absorbance in the near-infrared (NIR) window and serve as a nanotheranostic agent for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal cancer therapy. In addition, they also display radioenhancement with a ratio of 6% due to their sensitivity to X-rays, which makes them a potential sensitizer for radiotherapy. These nanodots were also labled with radioactive 99mTc for quantification of their biodistribution by single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) imaging. Our work demonstrates the potential of ultrasmall Bi2Se3 nanodots in multimodal imaging-guided synergetic radiophotothermal therapy of cancer.

Ultrasmall Biocompatible Bi2Se3 Nanodots for Multimodal Imaging-Guided Synergistic Radiophotothermal Therapy against Cancer

Hierarchical S-doped Bi2Se3 microspheres assembled by stacked nanosheets were successfully synthesized as the anode of a lithium ion battery, which shows an initial discharge capacity of 771.3 mA h g−1 with great potential in energy storage.

Fangxin Mao

Papers

Ultrasmall Biocompatible Bi2Se3 Nanodots for Multimodal Imaging-Guided Synergistic Radiophotothermal Therapy against Cancer

Solvothermal synthesis and electrochemical properties of S-doped Bi2Se3 hierarchical microstructure assembled by stacked nanosheets