Mo Yanhan, Liu Xu, You Jian, Luo Lihua
College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P. R. China.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
Nanomedicine (Lond). 2025 Aug 28:1-25. doi: 10.1080/17435889.2025.2550233.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a noninvasive therapeutic approach, particularly effective in tumor treatment. PDT utilizes photosensitizers (PSs) to absorb light at specific wavelengths, converting photon energy into chemical energy and subsequently generating cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). These ROS trigger cell death through apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy-related pathways. Compared with conventional therapies, PDT exhibits significant advantages, including high selectivity, repeatability, enhanced safety, minimal side effects, low drug resistance, and compatibility with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. However, due to the limited tissue penetration depth of light, PDT demonstrates suboptimal efficacy in treating deep tumors. Additionally, limitations such as poor targeting of photosensitizers and unfavorable factors in the tumor microenvironment greatly restrict PDT's therapeutic efficacy and clinical applicability. To enhance PDT efficacy, various strategies have been explored, among which nanotechnology has emerged as a key research focus. This review summarizes multiple approaches to augmenting nanotechnology-mediated PDT, with emphasis on achieving targeted delivery of photosensitizers (tissue, cell, and organelle-level), improving the performance of photosensitizers and modulating the tumor microenvironment. These insights provide theoretical guidance and practical references for developing novel and efficient PDT nanoplatforms. We conducted the literature search in PubMed, Elsevier ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Wiley and Scopus (from 2004 to 2025).
光动力疗法（PDT）是一种非侵入性治疗方法，在肿瘤治疗中特别有效。PDT利用光敏剂（PSs）吸收特定波长的光，将光子能量转化为化学能量，随后产生活细胞毒性的活性氧（ROS）。这些ROS通过凋亡、坏死和自噬相关途径触发细胞死亡。与传统疗法相比，PDT具有显著优势，包括高选择性、可重复性、更高的安全性、最小的副作用、低耐药性以及与放疗或化疗的兼容性。然而，由于光的组织穿透深度有限，PDT在治疗深部肿瘤时疗效欠佳。此外，诸如光敏剂靶向性差以及肿瘤微环境中的不利因素等限制极大地制约了PDT的治疗效果和临床适用性。为了提高PDT疗效，人们探索了各种策略，其中纳米技术已成为关键研究重点。本综述总结了多种增强纳米技术介导的PDT的方法，重点在于实现光敏剂的靶向递送（组织、细胞和细胞器水平）、改善光敏剂性能以及调节肿瘤微环境。这些见解为开发新型高效的PDT纳米平台提供了理论指导和实践参考。我们在PubMed、Elsevier ScienceDirect、Web of Science、Wiley和Scopus（从2004年至2025年）中进行了文献检索。
