Engineering Nanoparticles for Optimized Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy as a local therapeutic method shows great biocompatibility in tumor therapy. However, the poor accumulation of photosensitizer in tumors restricted the therapeutic efficacy. Different from traditional chemotherapeutic drugs, some additional issues will further decrease the photodynamic therapeutic efficacy including the oxygen concentration and the short half life of reactive oxygen species. Nanoparticles as drug carriers are currently under rapid development for tumor therapy, especially in photodynamic therapy. This review mainly focuses on the design of nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy, with special emphasis on optimizing the therapeutic efficacy via the tumor tissue/organelles target, oxygen supply, and combination therapy.