Recent Development of Photothermal Agents (PTAs) Based on Small Organic Molecular Dyes

• Published in: Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology Vol. 21; no. 15; pp. 2098 - 2110
• Main Authors: Lv, Shibo, Miao, Yuyang, Liu, Dapeng, Song, Fengling
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 03-08-2020
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Cancer; Chemical modification; Dyes; Irradiation; Light penetration; Organic chemistry; organic photothermal agents; Photobleaching; Photothermal conversion; photothermal therapy; supramolecular self-assembly; Tumors; supramolecular self-assembly; organic photothermal agents; photothermal therapy
• ISSN: 1439-4227; 1439-7633
• DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202000089

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has attracted great attention due to its noninvasive and effective use against cancer. Various photothermal agents (PTAs) including organic and inorganic PTAs have been developed in the last decades. Organic PTAs based on small‐molecule dyes exhibit great potential for future clinical applications considering their good biocompatibility and easy chemical modification or functionalization. In this review, we discuss the recent progress of organic PTAs based on small‐molecule dyes for enhanced PTT. We summarize the strategies to improve the light penetration of PTAs, methods to enhance their photothermal conversion efficiency, how to optimize PTAs’ delivery into deep tumors, and how to resist photobleaching under repeated laser irradiation. We hope that this review can rouse the interest of researchers in the field of PTAs based on small‐molecule dyes and help them to fabricate next‐generation PTAs for noninvasive cancer therapy.
Photothermal therapy being a noninvasive cancer therapy, there is intense interest in synthesizing highly efficient PTAs that can convert light into heat. In this paper, we highlight recent developments in PTAs based on small‐molecule dyes and discuss the main factors limiting their translation into clinical applications.