Nanoparticle for Photoresponsive Minimal-Invasive Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Light-absorbing nanoparticles (NPs) are a powerful tool for the upcoming brand-new drug delivery system (DDS). The light-responsive NPs have been explored for the diagnosis of cancer, bioimaging, and therapy. The diagnosis-guided cancer therapy, or theranostic nanomedicine, has the potential to help fight complicated diseases like cancer. Different preclinical studies show that theranostic NPs have a distinctive advantage, exhibiting clear and promising futures to bring new hope to cancer patients. How light-responsive or light-triggered NPs can therapeutically translate in tumor microenvironments is an intriguing area of cancer nanotechnology. This chapter is divided into four sections covering the most commonly used light-responsive NPs in phototherapy intended for early diagnosis and therapy of cancer: (1) photodynamic therapy (PDT), (2) photothermal therapy (PTT), (3) imaging-guided phototherapy, and (4) photo-chemotherapy.