Near-Infrared Activated Cyanine Dyes As Agents for Photothermal Therapy and Diagnosis of Tumors

摘要

Today, it has become apparent that innovative treatment methods, includingthose involving simultaneous diagnosis and therapy, are particularly in demandin modern cancer medicine. The development of nanomedicine offers new ways ofincreasing the therapeutic index and minimizing side effects. The developmentof photoactivatable dyes that are effectively absorbed in the firsttransparency window of biological tissues (700–900 nm) and are capable offluorescence and heat generation has led to the emergence of phototheranostics,an approach that combines the bioimaging of deep tumors and metastases andtheir photothermal treatment. The creation of near-infrared (NIR)light-activated agents for sensitive fluorescence bioimaging and phototherapyis a priority in phototheranostics, because the excitation of drugs and/ordiagnostic substances in the near-infrared region exhibits advantages such asdeep penetration into tissues and a weak baseline level of autofluorescence. Inthis review, we focus on NIR-excited dyes and discuss prospects for theirapplication in photothermal therapy and the diagnosis of cancer. Particularattention is focused on the consideration of new multifunctional nanoplatformsfor phototheranostics which allow one to achieve a synergistic effect incombinatorial photothermal, photodynamic, and/or chemotherapy, withsimultaneous fluorescence, acoustic, and/or magnetic resonance imaging.