Han Hwa Seung, Choi Ki Young
Natural Product Informatics Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Gangneung 25451, Korea.
Division of Bio-Medical Science and Technology, KIST School, University of Science and Technology (UST), Seoul 02792, Korea.
Biomedicines. 2021 Mar 16;9(3):305. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9030305.
Photothermal therapy (PTT) has attracted extensive research attention as a noninvasive and selective treatment strategy for numerous cancers. PTT functions via photothermal effects induced by converting light energy into heat on near-infrared laser irradiation. Despite the great advances in PTT for cancer treatment, the photothermal therapeutics using laser devise only or non-specific small molecule PTT agents has been limited because of its low photothermal conversion efficiency, concerns about the biosafety of the photothermal agents, their low tumor accumulation, and a heat resistance of specific types of cancer. Using nanomaterials as PTT agents themselves, or for delivery of PTT agents, offers improved therapeutic outcomes with fewer side effects through enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency, accumulation of the PTT agent in the tumor tissue, and, by extension, through combination with other therapies. Herein, we review PTT's current clinical progress and present the future outlooks for clinical applications. To better understand clinical PTT applications, we describe nanomaterial-mediated photothermal effects and their mechanism of action in the tumor microenvironment. This review also summarizes recent studies of PTT alone or in combination with other therapies. Overall, innovative and strategically designed PTT platforms are promising next-generation noninvasive cancer treatments to move closer toward clinical applications.
光热疗法（PTT）作为一种针对多种癌症的非侵入性和选择性治疗策略，已引起广泛的研究关注。PTT通过在近红外激光照射下将光能转化为热量所诱导的光热效应发挥作用。尽管PTT在癌症治疗方面取得了巨大进展，但仅使用激光装置或非特异性小分子PTT试剂的光热疗法一直受到限制，原因在于其光热转换效率低、对光热试剂生物安全性的担忧、它们在肿瘤中的低积累以及特定类型癌症的耐热性。将纳米材料用作PTT试剂本身或用于递送PTT试剂，可通过提高光热转换效率、PTT试剂在肿瘤组织中的积累以及进而与其他疗法联合使用，提供具有更少副作用的更好治疗效果。在此，我们综述PTT目前的临床进展并呈现其临床应用的未来展望。为了更好地理解临床PTT应用，我们描述纳米材料介导的光热效应及其在肿瘤微环境中的作用机制。本综述还总结了近期关于单独使用PTT或与其他疗法联合使用的研究。总体而言，创新且经过战略设计的PTT平台有望成为下一代非侵入性癌症治疗方法，从而更接近临床应用。
