Nanoparticles for Advanced Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer

BACKGROUND: The world widespread rise in cancer incidence has caused an increase in the demand for effective and safe materials for treatment. One of the most prevalent forms of treatment for cancer is photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is seen as an alternative to radiotherapy, as well as chemotherapy. In more recent years, researchers are exploring new nanotechnology-based strategies to improve the effectiveness of PDT. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to explore the current trends and research findings associated with PDT and the development of nanotechnology as treatment modality for cancer. Nanotechnology commonly deals with nanomaterials, which are well defined by their reduced size (which is <100 nm), allowing these small nanostructured particles to have unique physical, chemical, and biological properties. The unique properties of nanomaterials attribute them to have enormous potential application in many interdisciplinary fields such as medicine, electronics, biomaterials, and so on. This mini-review presents a collection of important works published with focus of nanotechnology and cancer treatment by PDT. CONCLUSIONS: Despite significant efforts to develop nanosystems for efficient PDT cancer treatment, it remains a challenge to develop nanostructured drug delivery systems that combine targeted tumor recognition with effective production of reactive singlet oxygen under PDT irradiation.