Nanomaterials for combination cancer photothermal therapy

Abstract

The biomedicine field has been significantly impacted by optical procedures using designed laser and optical equipment, and exploiting those are now evolving. In the field of cancer treatment through nanomedicine, advanced procedures including photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been employed recently. However, using phototherapy methods alone is unable to entirely treat various cancers with different circumstances such as hypoxia, inaccessible location, side effect, and low tendency in some the immune system responses, which consequently leads to the risks of relapse and metastasis. Therefore, employing phototherapy in combination with other cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation, immune therapy, and gene therapy, can introduce a synergistic effect that can be achieved through nanomaterials. The purpose of this study is to describe the combinatorial strategies that show promise in tackling the obstacles of phototherapy and to bring attention to the role of light in the treatment of cancer.