Abstract
Indocyanine green (ICG) is a Food and Drug Administration–approved near-infrared fluorescent dye, employed as an imaging agent for different clinical applications due to its attractive physicochemical properties, high sensitivity, and safety. However, free ICG suffers from some drawbacks, such as relatively short circulation half-life, concentration-dependent aggregation, and rapid clearance from the body, which would confine its feasible application in oncology. Here, we aim to discuss encapsulation of ICG within a nanoparticle formulation as a strategy to overcome some of its current limitations and to enlarge its possible applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Our purpose is to provide a short but exhaustive overview of clinical outcomes that these nanocomposites would provide, discussing opportunities, limitations, and possible impacts with regard to the main clinical needs in oncology.
Highlights
Growing attention has been addressed to nanocarriers for Indocyanine green (ICG) delivery with the purpose of overcoming some of its current limitations and to expand its possible applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment (Wang et al, 2018)
Among the plethora of ICG-NPs for different targets and applications, we focused on the following main applications for cancer treatment: photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) (i), in vivo imaging and image-guided surgery (ii), and multimodal therapy (iii) (Figure 1B)
The potential of ICG-conjugated NPs is undeniable, mostly because they could possibly be directed toward several cancer types with incredibly high specificity
Summary
Growing attention has been addressed to nanocarriers for Indocyanine green (ICG) delivery with the purpose of overcoming some of its current limitations and to expand its possible applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment (Wang et al, 2018). ICG is a widely investigated near infrared (NIR) fluorescent agent, approved for clinical use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the 1950s (Landsman et al, 1976; Alius et al, 2018). Many studies suggest that the exploitation of ICG-based nano-formulations (micelles, polymeric nanoparticles, silica nanoparticles, and liposomes) could boost the efficacy, specificity, and biosafety of this imaging agent for potential oncological applications (Yan et al, 2016; Egloff-Juras et al, 2019)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
