Recent advances in near-infrared-II hollow nanoplatforms for photothermal-based cancer treatment

Abstract

Near-infrared-II (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) light-triggered photothermal therapy (PTT) has been regarded as a promising candidate for cancer treatment, but PTT alone often fails to achieve satisfactory curative outcomes. Hollow nanoplatforms prove to be attractive in the biomedical field owing to the merits including good biocompatibility, intrinsic physical-chemical nature and unique hollow structures, etc. On one hand, hollow nanoplatforms themselves can be NIR-II photothermal agents (PTAs), the cavities of which are able to carry diverse therapeutic units to realize multi-modal therapies. On the other hand, NIR-II PTAs are capable of decorating on the surface to combine with the functions of components encapsulated inside the hollow nanoplatforms for synergistic cancer treatment. Notably, PTAs generally can serve as good photoacoustic imaging (PAI) contrast agents (CAs), which means such kind of hollow nanoplatforms are also expected to be multifunctional all-in-one nanotheranostics. In this review, the recent advances of NIR-II hollow nanoplatforms for single-modal PTT, dual-modal PTT/photodynamic therapy (PDT), PTT/chemotherapy, PTT/catalytic therapy and PTT/gas therapy as well as multi-modal PTT/chemodynamic therapy (CDT)/chemotherapy, PTT/chemo/gene therapy and PTT/PDT/CDT/starvation therapy (ST)/immunotherapy are summarized for the first time. Before these, the typical synthetic strategies for hollow structures are presented, and lastly, potential challenges and perspectives related to these novel paradigms for future research and clinical translation are discussed. Graphical Abstract

Recent Advances in Photoacoustic Agents for Theranostic Applications

“…Although PDT may be limited due to the lower efficiency of energy transfer to oxygen in NIR-II compared to the visible and NIR-I ranges, the less scattering of light is highly beneficial in biomedical studies as it enhances the penetration depth [ 94 ], allowing higher laser energy delivery to the skin [ 95 ] and stronger PA signal generation. Therefore, therapeutic agents that absorb in the NIR-II region can be used for drug delivery to deep tissues [ 96 , 97 , 98 ].…”

Recent advances on g-C3N4-based Z-scheme photocatalysts for organic pollutant removal

“…Hydrothermal and solvothermal approaches are usually conducted in a sealed autoclave under high temperature and pressure conditions, endowing the obtain semiconductors with high crystallinity, regulatable morphology, and homogeneous size distribution. 13,[150][151][152][153][154][155] Therefore, this strategy is commonly utilized for fabricating g-C 3 N 4 -based Z-scheme photocatalysts without further post-treatment. Liu and co-workers 156 reported on Bi 2 WO 6 quantum dots/g-C 3 N 4 binary Z-scheme systems via a simple one-pot hydrothermal strategy.…”

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs): emerging biomaterials for cancer theragnostic applications

“…Over the past few years, PTT has emerged as an attractive therapeutic in oncology because it offers several advantages over traditional treatments, including spatially controlled action, noninvasiveness, and low toxicity [ 139 , 140 ]. In recent years, near-infrared (NIR) light-mediated PTT has been widely used in cancer therapy, which can cause apoptosis or necrosis of cancer cells by triggering a localized hyperthermia effect [ 141 – 143 ]. The photothermal agents generally used in PTT can be classified into four main subgroups: plasmon resonance-generating metallic nanostructures, carbon-based light-absorbing materials, organic materials, and polymeric materials [ 144 ].…”