Volume 5, Issue 7 e603
REVIEW
Open Access

Photodynamic therapy for cancer: mechanisms, photosensitizers, nanocarriers, and clinical studies

Wanchen Zhao

Wanchen Zhao

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Wanchen Zhao, Liqing Wang and Meihong Zhang contributed equally in this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Liqing Wang

Liqing Wang

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Wanchen Zhao, Liqing Wang and Meihong Zhang contributed equally in this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Meihong Zhang

Meihong Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Wanchen Zhao, Liqing Wang and Meihong Zhang contributed equally in this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Zhiqi Liu

Zhiqi Liu

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Search for more papers by this author
Chuanbin Wu

Chuanbin Wu

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Search for more papers by this author
Xin Pan

Xin Pan

School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

Search for more papers by this author
Zhengwei Huang

Corresponding Author

Zhengwei Huang

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Correspondence

Zhengwei Huang, Chao Lu, and Guilan Quan, State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China.

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
Chao Lu

Corresponding Author

Chao Lu

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Correspondence

Zhengwei Huang, Chao Lu, and Guilan Quan, State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China.

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
Guilan Quan

Corresponding Author

Guilan Quan

State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Correspondence

Zhengwei Huang, Chao Lu, and Guilan Quan, State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China.

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 22 June 2024
Citations: 40

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a temporally and spatially precisely controllable, noninvasive, and potentially highly efficient method of phototherapy. The three components of PDT primarily include photosensitizers, oxygen, and light. PDT employs specific wavelengths of light to active photosensitizers at the tumor site, generating reactive oxygen species that are fatal to tumor cells. Nevertheless, traditional photosensitizers have disadvantages such as poor water solubility, severe oxygen-dependency, and low targetability, and the light is difficult to penetrate the deep tumor tissue, which remains the toughest task in the application of PDT in the clinic. Here, we systematically summarize the development and the molecular mechanisms of photosensitizers, and the challenges of PDT in tumor management, highlighting the advantages of nanocarriers-based PDT against cancer. The development of third generation photosensitizers has opened up new horizons in PDT, and the cooperation between nanocarriers and PDT has attained satisfactory achievements. Finally, the clinical studies of PDT are discussed. Overall, we present an overview and our perspective of PDT in the field of tumor management, and we believe this work will provide a new insight into tumor-based PDT.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

There are no conflict of interest to declare.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Not applicable.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.