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Recent Advancements in Nanomaterials for Photodynamic Therapy of Cancers

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Handbook of Oxidative Stress in Cancer: Therapeutic Aspects

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Abstract

Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy are the commonly used therapeutic interventions for cancerous tumors but they often cause deleterious side effects to the normal cells surrounding the tumor site leading to poor prognosis. In the past two decades, photodynamic therapy has emerged as one of the most investigated techniques for treating cancerous tumors due to minimum invasiveness, cancer cell selectivity, and high therapeutic effect. In photodynamic therapy, a photosensitizer is excited with a light source, resulting in a photochemical reaction within the cell’s microenvironment that generates cytotoxic free radicals. However, the overall therapeutic efficacy of photodynamic therapy depends on several factors such as tumor location and microenvironment, photosensitizer molecule, and wavelength and intensity of the activation light. Most of the photosensitizers are highly hydrophobic which often leads to aggregation in an aqueous environment resulting in decreased singlet oxygen quantum yield. By using nanomaterials as delivery agents, photosensitizers can be delivered at the target site with high load and increased aqueous solubility leading to increased therapeutic efficacy. In this chapter, we review different types of nanomaterials as delivery agents for photosensitizers. We also summarize the application of nanomaterials as down-converting and up-converting photosensitizers, and their advantages over conventional photosensitizers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, School of Agriculture and Bioscience, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences (Deemed-to-be University), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

    Asma Musfira Shabbirahmed, Mohanya Kumaravel & Prathap Somu

  2. Structural Biology and Nanomedicine Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha, India

    Prathap Somu, Subhankar Paul & Anjul Khadria

  3. Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Anjul Khadria

  4. Department of Biotechnology, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (Deemed to be University), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

    Prathap Somu

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  1. Asma Musfira Shabbirahmed
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  2. Mohanya Kumaravel
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  3. Prathap Somu
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  4. Subhankar Paul
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  5. Anjul Khadria
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anjul Khadria .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept Biochem & Biophysics, C-Block, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal, India

    Sajal Chakraborti

Section Editor information

  1. Laser Research Centre, Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Heidi Abrahamse

  2. The Loop Immuno-Oncology Laboratory, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Seema Gupta

  3. Radiation and Cancer Therapeutics Lab, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    Nupur and A. B. Tiku

  4. Department of Biochemistry, Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India

    Kiran Dahiya

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Shabbirahmed, A.M., Kumaravel, M., Somu, P., Paul, S., Khadria, A. (2022). Recent Advancements in Nanomaterials for Photodynamic Therapy of Cancers. In: Chakraborti, S. (eds) Handbook of Oxidative Stress in Cancer: Therapeutic Aspects. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1247-3_211-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1247-3_211-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-16-1247-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-1247-3

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  1. Latest

    Recent Advancements in Nanomaterials for Photodynamic Therapy of Cancers
    Published:
    21 April 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1247-3_211-2

  2. Original

    Recent Advancements in Nanomaterials for Photodynamic Therapy of Cancers
    Published:
    11 March 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1247-3_211-1

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