Planar-structured thiadiazoloquinoxaline-based NIR-II dye for tumor phototheranostics.

Second near-infrared (NIR-II) fluorescence imaging shows huge application prospects in clinical disease diagnosis and surgical navigation, while it is still a big challenge to exploit high performance NIR-II dyes with long-wavelength absorption and high fluorescence quantum yield. Herein, based on planar π-conjugated donor-acceptor-donor systems, three NIR-II dyes (TP-DBBT, TP-TQ1, and TP-TQ2) were synthesized with bulk steric hindrance, and the influence of acceptor engineering on absorption/emission wavelengths, fluorescence efficiency and photothermal properties was systematically investigated. Compared with TP-DBBT and TP-TQ2, the TP-TQ1 based on 6,7-diphenyl-[1,2,5]thiadiazoloquinoxaline can well balance absorption/emission wavelengths, NIR-II fluorescence brightness and photothermal effects. And the TP-TQ1 nanoparticles (NPs) possess high absorption ability at a peak absorption of 877 nm, with a high relative quantum yield of 0.69% for large steric hindrance hampering the close π-π stacking interactions. Furthermore, the TP-TQ1 NPs show a desirable photothermal conversion efficiency of 48% and good compatibility. In vivo experiments demonstrate that the TP-TQ1 NPs can serve as a versatile theranostic agent for NIR-II fluorescence/photoacoustic imaging-guided tumor phototherapy. The molecular planarization strategy provides an approach for designing efficient NIR-II fluorophores with extending absorption/emission wavelength, high fluorescence brightness, and outstanding phototheranostic performance.

FeP-Based Nanotheranostic Platform for Enhanced Phototherapy/Ferroptosis/Chemodynamic Therapy.

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent and lipid peroxides (LPO)-overloaded programmed damage cell death, induced by glutathione (GSH) depletion and glutathione peroxide 4 (GPX4) inactivation. However, the inadequacy of endogenous iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS) restricts the efficacy of ferroptosis. To overcome this obstacle, a near-infrared photo-responsive FeP@PEG NPs is fabricated. Exogenous iron pool can enhance the effect of ferroptosis via the depletion of GSH and further regulate GPX4 inactivation. Generation of ·OH derived from the Fenton reaction is proved by increased accumulation of lipid peroxides. The heat generated by photothermal therapy and ROS generated by photodynamic therapy can enhance cell apoptosis under near-infrared (NIR-808 nm) irradiation, as evidenced by mitochondrial dysfunction and further accumulation of lipid peroxide content. FeP@PEG NPs can significantly inhibit the growth of several types of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, which is validated by theoretical and experimental results. Meanwhile, FeP@PEG NPs show excellent T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) property. In summary, the FeP-based nanotheranostic platform for enhanced phototherapy/ferroptosis/chemodynamic therapy provides a reliable opportunity for clinical cancer theranostics.

Fused Azulenyl Squaraine Derivatives Improve Phototheranostics in the Second Near-Infrared Window by Concentrating Excited State Energy on Non-Radiative Decay Pathways.

The second near-infrared (NIR-II) theranostics offer new opportunities for precise disease phototheranostic due to the enhanced tissue penetration and higher maximum permissible exposure of NIR-II light. However, traditional regimens lacking effective NIR-II absorption and uncontrollable excited-state energy decay pathways often result in insufficient theranostic outcomes. Herein a phototheranostic nano-agent (PS-1 NPs) based on azulenyl squaraine derivatives with a strong NIR-II absorption band centered at 1092 nm is reported, allowing almost all absorbed excitation energy to dissipate through non-radiative decay pathways, leading to high photothermal conversion efficiency (90.98 %) and strong photoacoustic response. Both in vitro and in vivo photoacoustic/photothermal therapy results demonstrate enhanced deep tissue cancer theranostic performance of PS-1 NPs. Even in the 5 mm deep-seated tumor model, PS-1 NPs demonstrated a satisfactory anti-tumor effect in photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal therapy. Moreover, for the human extracted tooth root canal infection model, the synergistic outcomes of the photothermal effect of PS-1 NPs and 0.5 % NaClO solution resulted in therapeutic efficacy comparable to the clinical gold standard irrigation agent 5.25 % NaClO, opening up possibilities for the expansion of NIR-II theranostic agents in oral medicine.

Biosynthesis of CuTe Nanorods with Large Molar Extinction Coefficients for NIR-II Photoacoustic Imaging.

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) in the second near-infrared region (NIR-II), due to deeper tissue penetration and a lower background interference, has attracted widespread concern. However, the development of NIR-II nanoprobes with a large molar extinction coefficient and a high photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) for PAI and photothermal therapy (PTT) is still a big challenge. In this work, the NIR-II CuTe nanorods (NRs) with large molar extinction coefficients ((1.31 ± 0.01) × 108 cm-1·M-1 at 808 nm, (7.00 ± 0.38) × 107 cm-1·M-1 at 1064 nm) and high PCEs (70% at 808 nm, 48% at 1064 nm) were synthesized by living Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) cells as biosynthesis factories. Due to the strong light-absorbing and high photothermal conversion ability, the in vitro PA signals of CuTe NRs were about 6 times that of indocyanine green (ICG) in both NIR-I and NIR-II. In addition, CuTe NRs could effectively inhibit tumor growth through PTT. This work provides a new strategy for developing NIR-II probes with large molar extinction coefficients and high PCEs for NIR-II PAI and PTT.

Chalcogen Atom-Modulated Croconaine for Efficient NIR-II Photothermal Theranostics.

Organic dye-based agents with near-infrared (NIR)-II absorption have great potential for cancer theranostics because of the deeper tissue penetration and good biocompatibility. However, proper design is required to develop NIR-II-absorbing dyes with good optical properties. We proposed to construct chalcogen atom-modulated croconaine for NIR-II light-triggered photothermal theranostics. By introducing different chalcogen atoms (O, S, Se, or Te) into the structure of croconaine, the light absorption of croconaine can be precisely regulated from the NIR-I to the NIR-II range due to the heavy-atom effect. Especially, Te-substituted croconaine (CRTe) and its nanoformulations exhibit superior NIR-II responsiveness, a high photothermal conversion efficiency (70.6%), and good photostability. With their favorable tumor accumulation, CRTe-NPs from tumor regions can be visualized by NIR-II optoacoustic systems with high resolution and high contrast; meanwhile, their superior photothermal performance also contributes to efficient cell killing and tumor elimination upon 1064 nm laser irradiation. Therefore, this work provides an efficient strategy for the molecular design of NIR-II organic photothermal agents.

Bionic nanotheranostic for multimodal imaging-guided NIR-II-photothermal cancer therapy.

In photothermal therapy (PTT), the photothermal conversion of the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window allows deeper penetration and higher laser irradiance and is considered a promising therapeutic strategy for deep tissues. Since cancer remains a leading cause of deaths worldwide, despite the numerous treatment options, we aimed to develop an improved bionic nanotheranostic for combined imaging and photothermal cancer therapy. We combined a gold nanobipyramid (Au NBP) as a photothermal agent and MnO2 as a magnetic resonance enhancer to produce core/shell structures (Au@MnO2; AM) and modified their surfaces with homologous cancer cell plasma membranes (PM) to enable tumour targeting. The performance of the resulting Au@MnO2@PM (AMP) nanotheranostic was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. AMP exhibits photothermal properties under NIR-II laser irradiation and has multimodal in vitro imaging functions. AMP enables the computed tomography (CT), photothermal imaging (PTI), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of tumours. In particular, AMP exhibited a remarkable PTT effect on cancer cells in vitro and inhibited tumour cell growth under 1064 nm laser irradiation in vivo, with no significant systemic toxicity. This study achieved tumour therapy guided by multimodal imaging, thereby demonstrating a novel strategy for the use of bionic gold nanoparticles for tumour PTT under NIR-II laser irradiation.

Rotor-based image-guided therapy of glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM), deep in the brain, is more challenging to diagnose and treat than other tumors. Such challenges have blocked the development of high-impact therapeutic approaches that combine reliable diagnosis with targeted therapy. Herein, effective cyanine dyes (IRLy) with the near-infrared two region (NIR-II) adsorption and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) have been developed via an "extended conjugation & molecular rotor" strategy for multimodal imaging and phototherapy of deep orthotopic GBM. IRLy was synthesized successfully through a rational molecular rotor modification with stronger penetration, higher signal-to-noise ratio, and a high photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) up to ∼60%, which can achieve efficient NIR-II photo-response. The multifunctional nanoparticles (Tf-IRLy NPs) were further fabricated to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) introducing transferrin (Tf) as a targeting ligand. Tf-IRLy NPs showed high biosafety and good tumor enrichment for GBM in vitro and in vivo, and thus enabled accurate, efficient, and less invasive NIR-II multimodal imaging and photothermal therapy. This versatile Tf-IRLy nanosystem can provide a reference for the efficient, precise and low-invasive multi-synergistic brain targeted photo-theranostics. In addition, the "extended conjugation & molecular rotor" strategy can be used to guide the design of other photothermal agents.

Inorganic nanoparticles for photothermal treatment of cancer.

In recent years, inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted increasing attention as potential theranostic agents in the field of oncology. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a minimally invasive technique that uses nanoparticles to produce heat from light to kill cancer cells. PTT requires two essential elements: a photothermal agent (PTA) and near-infrared (NIR) radiation. The role of PTAs is to absorb NIR, which subsequently triggers hyperthermia within cancer cells. By raising the temperature in the tumor microenvironment (TME), PTT causes damage to the cancer cells. Nanoparticles (NPs) are instrumental in PTT given that they facilitate the passive and active targeting of the PTA to the TME, making them crucial for the effectiveness of the treatment. In addition, specific targeting can be achieved through their enhanced permeation and retention effect. Thus, owing to their significant advantages, such as altering the morphology and surface characteristics of nanocarriers comprised of PTA, NPs have been exploited to facilitate tumor regression significantly. This review highlights the properties of PTAs, the mechanism of PTT, and the results obtained from the improved curative efficacy of PTT by utilizing NPs platforms.

Thiophene π-Bridge Manipulation of NIR-II AIEgens for Multimodal Tumor Phototheranostics.

The fabrication of a multimodal phototheranostic platform on the basis of single-component theranostic agent to afford both imaging and therapy simultaneously, is attractive yet full of challenges. The emergence of aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens), particularly those emit fluorescence in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II), provides a powerful tool for cancer treatment by virtue of adjustable pathway for radiative/non-radiative energy consumption, deeper penetration depth and aggregation-enhanced theranostic performance. Although bulky thiophene π-bridges such as ortho-alkylated thiophene, 3,4-ethoxylene dioxythiophene and benzo[c]thiophene are commonly adopted to construct NIR-II AIEgens, the subtle differentiation on their theranostic behaviours has yet to be comprehensively investigated. In this work, systematical investigations discovered that AIEgen BT-NS bearing benzo[c]thiophene possesses acceptable NIR-II fluorescence emission intensity, efficient reactive oxygen species generation, and high photothermal conversion efficiency. Eventually, by using of BT-NS nanoparticles, unprecedented performance on NIR-II fluorescence/photoacoustic/photothermal imaging-guided synergistic photodynamic/photothermal elimination of tumors was demonstrated. This study thus offers useful insights into developing versatile phototheranostic systems for clinical trials.

Engineered photonic near-infrared light activated photothermal theranostic nanovaccine induced targeted remodeling of tumor microenvironment.

Tumor recurrence, which happens as a result of persisting tumor cells and minor lesions after treatments like surgery and chemotherapy, is a major problem in oncology. Herein, a strategy to combat this issue by utilize a theranostic nanovaccine composed of photonic HCuS. This nanovaccine aims to eradicate cancer cells and their traces while also preventing tumor recurrence via optimizing the photothermal immune impact. Successful membrane targeting allows for the introduction of new therapeutic agents into the tumor cells. Together with co-encapsulated Toll-Like Receptors (TLR7/8) agonist R848 for activating T cells and maturing DCs, the combined effects of HCuS and ICG function as photothermal agents that generate heat in the presence of NIR light. Photothermal-mediated immunotherapy with therapeutic modalities proved successful in killing tumor cells. By activating the immune system, this new photonic nanovaccine greatly increases immunogenic cell death (ICD), kills tumor cells, and prevents their recurrence.

Advances of Photothermal Agents with Fluorescence Imaging/Enhancement Ability in the Field of Photothermal Therapy and Diagnosis.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is an effective cancer treatment method. Due to its easy focusing and tunability of the irradiation light, direct and accurate local treatment can be performed in a noninvasive manner by PTT. This treatment strategy requires the use of photothermal agents to convert light energy into heat energy, thereby achieving local heating and triggering biochemical processes to kill tumor cells. As a key factor in PTT, the photothermal conversion ability of photothermal agents directly determines the efficacy of PTT. In addition, photothermal agents generally have photothermal imaging (PTI) and photoacoustic imaging (PAI) functions, which can not only guide the optimization of irradiation conditions but also achieve the integration of disease diagnosis. If the photothermal agents have function of fluorescence imaging (FLI) or fluorescence enhancement, they can not only further improve the accuracy in disease diagnosis but also accurately determine the tumor location through multimodal imaging for corresponding treatment. In this paper, we summarize recent advances in photothermal agents with FLI or fluorescence enhancement functions for PTT and tumor diagnosis. According to the different recognition sites, the application of specific targeting photothermal agents is introduced. Finally, limitations and challenges of photothermal agents with fluorescence imaging/enhancement in the field of PTT and tumor diagnosis are prospected.

Oxygen Vacancy Defect Enhanced NIR-II Photothermal Performance of BiOxCl Nanosheets for Combined Phototherapy of Cancer Guided by Multimodal Imaging.

Narrow photo-absorption range and low carrier utilization are significant barriers that restrict the antitumor efficiency of 2D bismuth oxyhalide (BiOX, X = Cl, Br, I) nanosheets (NSs). Introducing oxygen vacancy (OV) defects can expand the absorption range and improve carrier utilization, which are crucial but also challenging. In this study, a series of BiOxCl NSs with different OV defect concentrations (x = 1, 0.7, 0.5) is developed, which shows full spectrum absorption and strong absorption in the second near-infrared region (NIR-II). Density functional theory calculations are utilized to calculate the crystal structure and density states of BiOxCl, which confirm that part of the carriers is separated by OV enhanced internal electric field to improve carrier utilization. The carriers without redox reaction can be trapped in the OV, leading to great majority of photo-generated carriers promoting the photothermal performance. Triggered by single NIR-II (1064 nm), BiOxCl NSs' bidirectional efficient utilization of carriers achieves synchronously combined phototherapy, leading to enhanced tumor ablation and multimodal diagnostic in vitro and vivo. It is thus believed that this work provides an innovative strategy to design and construct nanoplatforms of indirect band gap semiconductors for clinical phototheranostics.

Biomimetic bright optotheranostics for metastasis monitoring and multimodal image-guided breast cancer therapeutics.

Nanoparticle formulations blending optical imaging contrast agents and therapeutics have been a cornerstone of preclinical theranostic applications. However, nanoparticle-based theranostics clinical translation faces challenges on reproducibility, brightness, photostability, biocompatibility, and selective tumor targeting and penetration. In this study, we integrate multimodal imaging and therapeutics within cancer cell-derived nanovesicles, leading to biomimetic bright optotheranostics for monitoring cancer metastasis. Upon NIR light irradiation, the engineered optotheranostics enables deep visualization and precise localization of metastatic lung, liver, and solid breast tumors along with solid tumor ablation. Metastatic cell-derived nanovesicles (∼80 ± 5 nm) are engineered to encapsulate imaging (emissive organic dye and gold nanoparticles) and therapeutic agents (anticancer drug doxorubicin and photothermally active organic indocyanine green dye). Systemic administration of biomimetic bright optotheranostic nanoparticles shows escape from mononuclear phagocytic clearance with (i) rapid tumor accumulation (3 h) and retention (up to 168 h), (ii) real-time monitoring of metastatic lung, liver, and solid breast tumors and (iii) 3-fold image-guided solid tumor reduction. These findings are supported by an improvement of X-ray, fluorescence, and photoacoustic signals while demonstrating a tumor reduction (201 mm3) in comparison with single therapies that includes chemotherapy (134 mm3), photodynamic therapy (72 mm3), and photothermal therapy (88mm3). The proposed innovative platform opens new avenues to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment outcomes by allowing the monitorization of cancer metastasis, allowing the precise cancer imaging, and delivering synergistic therapeutic agents at the solid tumor site.

Supramolecular prodrug-like nanotheranostics with dynamic and activatable nature for synergistic photothermal immunotherapy of metastatic cancer.

Synergistic photothermal immunotherapy has attracted widespread attention due to the mutually reinforcing therapeutic effects on primary and metastatic tumors. However, the lack of clinical approval nanomedicines for spatial, temporal, and dosage control of drug co-administration underscores the challenges facing this field. Here, a photothermal agent (Cy7-TCF) and an immune checkpoint blocker (NLG919) are conjugated via disulfide bond to construct a tumor-specific small molecule prodrug (Cy7-TCF-SS-NLG), which self-assembles into prodrug-like nano-assemblies (PNAs) that are self-delivering and self-formulating. In tumor cells, over-produced GSH cleaves disulfide bonds to release Cy7-TCF-OH, which re-assembles into nanoparticles to enhance photothermal conversion while generate reactive oxygen species (ROSs) upon laser irradiation, and then binds to endogenous albumin to activate near-infrared fluorescence, enabling multimodal imaging-guided phototherapy for primary tumor ablation and subsequent release of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). These TAAs, in combination with the co-released NLG919, effectively activated effector T cells and suppressed Tregs, thereby boosting antitumor immunity to prevent tumor metastasis. This work provides a simple yet effective strategy that integrates the supramolecular dynamics and reversibility with stimuli-responsive covalent bonding to design a simple small molecule with synergistic multimodal imaging-guided phototherapy and immunotherapy cascades for cancer treatment with high clinical value.

Cell membrane-coated biomimetic nanomedicines: productive cancer theranostic tools.

As the second-leading cause of human death, cancer has drawn attention in the area of biomedical research and therapy from all around the world. Certainly, the development of nanotechnology has made it possible for nanoparticles (NPs) to be used as a carrier for delivery systems in the treatment of tumors. This is a biomimetic approach established to craft remedial strategies comprising NPs cloaked with membrane obtained from various natural cells like blood cells, bacterial cells, cancer cells, etc. Here we conduct an in-depth exploration of cell membrane-coated NPs (CMNPs) and their extensive array of applications including drug delivery, vaccination, phototherapy, immunotherapy, MRI imaging, PET imaging, multimodal imaging, gene therapy and a combination of photothermal and chemotherapy. This review article provides a thorough summary of the most recent developments in the use of CMNPs for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It critically assesses the state of research while recognizing significant accomplishments and innovations. Additionally, it indicates ongoing problems in clinical translation and associated queries that warrant deeper research. By doing so, this study encourages creative thinking for future projects in the field of tumor therapy using CMNPs while also educating academics on the present status of CMNP research.

Recent Progress on Tumor Microenvironment-Activated NIR-II Phototheranostic Agents with Simultaneous Activation for Diagnosis and Treatment.

Malignant tumors seriously threaten human life and well-being. Emerging Near-infrared II (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm) phototheranostic nanotechnology integrates diagnostic and treatment modalities, offering merits including improved tissue penetration and enhanced spatiotemporal resolution. This remarkable progress has opened promising avenues for advancing tumor theranostic research. The tumor microenvironment (TME) differs from normal tissues, exhibiting distinct attributes such as hypoxia, acidosis, overexpressed hydrogen peroxide, excess glutathione, and other factors. Capitalizing on these attributes, researchers have developed TME-activatable NIR-II phototheranostic agents with diagnostic and therapeutic attributes concurrently. Therefore, developing TME-activatable NIR-II phototheranostic agents with diagnostic and therapeutic activation holds significant research importance. Currently, research on TME-activatable NIR-II phototheranostic agents is still in its preliminary stages. This review examines the recent advances in developing dual-functional NIR-II activatable phototheranostic agents over the past years. It systematically presents NIR-II phototheranostic agents activated by various TME factors such as acidity (pH), hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ), glutathione (GSH), hydrogen sulfide (H2 S), enzymes, and their hybrid. This encompasses NIR-II fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging diagnostics, along with therapeutic modalities, including photothermal, photodynamic, chemodynamic, and gas therapies triggered by these TME factors. Lastly, the difficulties and opportunities confronting NIR-II activatable phototheranostic agents in the simultaneous diagnosis and treatment field are highlighted.

An NIR-II Excitable AIE Small Molecule with Multimodal Phototheranostic Features for Orthotopic Breast Cancer Treatment.

One-for-all phototheranostics, referring to a single component simultaneously exhibiting multiple optical imaging and therapeutic modalities, has attracted significant attention due to its excellent performance in cancer treatment. Benefitting from the superiority in balancing the diverse competing energy dissipation pathways, aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) are proven to be ideal templates for constructing one-for-all multimodal phototheranostic agents. However, to this knowledge, the all-round AIEgens that can be triggered by a second near-infrared (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm) light have not been reported. Given the deep tissue penetration and high maximum permissible exposure of the NIR-II excitation light, herein, this work reports for the first time an NIR-II laser excitable AIE small molecule (named BETT-2) with multimodal phototheranostic features by taking full use of the advantage of AIEgens in single molecule-facilitated versatility as well as synchronously maximizing the molecular donor-acceptor strength and conformational distortion. As formulated into nanoparticles (NPs), the high performance of BETT-2 NPs in NIR-II light-driven fluorescence-photoacoustic-photothermal trimodal imaging-guided photodynamic-photothermal synergistic therapy of orthotopic mouse breast tumors is fully demonstrated by the systematic in vitro and in vivo evaluations. This work offers valuable insights for developing NIR-II laser activatable one-for-all phototheranostic systems.

Recent Advances in Photothermal Therapy at Near-Infrared-II Based on 2D MXenes.

The use of photothermal therapy (PTT) with the near-infrared II region (NIR-II: 1000-1700 nm) is expected to be a powerful cancer treatment strategy. It retains the noninvasive nature and excellent temporal and spatial controllability of the traditional PTT, and offers significant advantages in terms of tissue penetration depth, background noise, and the maximum permissible exposure standards for skin. MXenes, transition-metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides are emerging inorganic nanomaterials with natural biocompatibility, wide spectral absorption, and a high photothermal conversion efficiency. The PTT of MXenes in the NIR-II region not only provides a valuable reference for exploring photothermal agents that respond to NIR-II in 2D inorganic nanomaterials, but also be considered as a promising biomedical therapy. First, the synthesis methods of 2D MXenes are briefly summarized, and the laser light source, mechanism of photothermal conversion, and evaluation criteria of photothermal performance are introduced. Second, the latest progress of PTT based on 2D MXenes in NIR-II are reviewed, including titanium carbide (Ti3 C2 ), niobium carbide (Nb2 C), and molybdenum carbide (Mo2 C). Finally, the main problems in the PTT application of 2D MXenes to NIR-II and future research directions are discussed.

Bromine Substitution Improves the Photothermal Performance of π-Conjugated Phototheranostic Molecules.

NIR-II fluorescence imaging-guided photothermal therapy (PTT) has been widely investigated due to its great application potential in tumor theranostics. PTT is an effective and non-invasive tumor treatment method that can adapt to tumor hypoxia; nevertheless, simple and effective strategies are still desired to develop new materials with excellent PTT properties to meet clinical requirements. In this work, we developed a bromine-substitution strategy to enhance the PTT of A-D-A'-D-A π-conjugated molecules. The experimental results reveal that bromine substitution can notably enhance the absorptivity (ϵ) and photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) of the π-conjugated molecules, resulting in the brominated molecules generating two times more heat (ϵ808 nm ×PCE) than their unsubstituted counterpart. We disclose that the enhanced photothermal properties of bromine-substituted π-conjugated molecules are a combined outcome of the heavy-atom effect, enhanced ICT effect, and more intense bromine-mediate intermolecular π-π stacking. Finally, the NIR-II tumor imaging capability and efficient PTT tumor ablation of the brominated π-conjugated materials demonstrate that bromine substitution is a promising strategy for developing future high-performance NIR-II imaging-guided PTT agents.

Post-Graphene 2D Materials: Structures, Properties, and Cancer Therapy Applications.

Cancer is one of the most serious diseases challenging human health and life span. Cancer has claimed millions of lives worldwide. Early diagnosis and effective treatment of cancer are very important for the survival of patients. In recent years, 2D nanomaterials have shown great potential in the development of anticancer treatment by combining their inherent physicochemical properties after surface modification. 2D nanomaterials have attracted great interest due to their unique nanosheet structure, large surface area, and extraordinary physicochemical properties. This article reviews the advantages and application status of emerging 2D nanomaterials for targeted tumor synergistic therapy compared with traditional therapeutic strategies. In order to investigate novel potential anticancer strategies, this paper focuses on the surface modification, cargo delivery capability, and unique optical properties of emerging 2D nanomaterials. Finally, the current problems and challenges in cancer treatment are summarized and prospected.