Targeted and effective photodynamic therapy for cancer using functionalized nanomaterials

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an emerging, non-invasive therapeutic strategy that involves photosensitizer (PS) drugs and external light for the treatment of diseases. Despite the great progress in PS-mediated PDT, their clinical applications are still hampered by poor water solubility and tissue/cell specificity of conventional PS drugs. Therefore, great efforts have been made towards the development of nanomaterials that can tackle fundamental challenges in conventional PS drug–mediated PDT for cancer treatment. This review highlights recent advances in the development of nano-platforms, in which various functionalized organic and inorganic nanomaterials are integrated with PS drugs, for significantly enhanced efficacy and tumor-selectivity of PDT.