Abstract
Cancer phototheranostics in second biological window (1000–1500 nm) has recently emerged as a promising alternative of first biological window because of high light penetration depth, minimal tissue absorption, reduced scattering, better resolution, less autofluorescence, and high signal to noise ratio. With the rapid progress in chemical biology, nanomedicine, and material science, multifunctional inorganic phototheranostics with broadband absorption (1000–1350 nm) in near-infrared-II (NIR-II) biowindow has been actively developed to diagnose and treat deeply localized tumors simultaneously. Hence, this Perspective focuses on the latest developments in NIR-II inorganic cancer phototheranostics. A systematic comparison of NIR-I vs NIR-II biowindow has been made, followed by the technical guidelines regarding the design considerations of theranostics. The general fabrication strategies of NIR-II activated theranostics are also briefly introduced. A comprehensive discussion about the potential multimodal cancer theranostic applications of inorganic nanosystems in NIR-II biowindow has been provided, whereas the potential obstacles in clinical translation and future prospects are also highlighted in Sec. V. This Perspective will reveal the essence of NIR-II photo-induced cancer theranostics, which may push forward the development of next-generation personalized cancer photo-nanomedicines.
Highlights
Being a heterogeneous and highly complex disease, cancer can affect any tissue or cell type of the human body and poses a global health threat to the human’s survival on the Earth.[1,2] genetic mutations, prior family history, exposure to radiation, and unhealthy diet, such as the consumption of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, serve as the primary factor, an uncontrolled cellular proliferation, continuous refreshment of the tumor microenvironment (TME), drug resistance, and the hijacking of normal biological processes of the patient’s body majorly contribute as well as facilitate tumor metastasis, which induced substantial morbidity
The potential role of already developed multifunctional nanoagents in NIR-II photo-induced cancer theranostics has been highlighted with an in-detail critical discussion
Because of the physical limitation of NIR-II light, a higher proportion of laser light cannot reach to the deep tissues/organs where infection or tumor exists
Summary
Being a heterogeneous and highly complex disease, cancer can affect any tissue or cell type of the human body and poses a global health threat to the human’s survival on the Earth.[1,2] genetic mutations, prior family history, exposure to radiation, and unhealthy diet, such as the consumption of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, serve as the primary factor, an uncontrolled cellular proliferation, continuous refreshment of the tumor microenvironment (TME), drug resistance, and the hijacking of normal biological processes of the patient’s body majorly contribute as well as facilitate tumor metastasis, which induced substantial morbidity. As far as surgical excision of tumor is concerned, it is a highly painful as well as much delicate and careful procedure to remove cancerous cells without disturbing the nerves network This is a challenging task to practically achieve, owing to the tumor complexity and heterogeneity, which opens up the possibility of tumor recurrence due to tumor fragments that remained in the tumor beds. A comparative analysis of NIR-I vs NIR-II optical window has been given, followed by the discussion of design considerations and the general fabrication strategies of inorganic theranostic agents with NIR-II absorption, which may push the development of optimal theranostic agents Their ultimate deep-seated tumor phototheranostic applications have been briefly summarized at the end along with a balanced discussion of future prospects to push forward the development of next-generation phototheranostics
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