Synergistic Triple-Modal Nanoplatform Integrating Fluorescence Imaging and Chemo-Photothermal/Photodynamic Therapy for Targeted Cancer Treatment

The successful treatment of cancer remains a significant challenge necessitating the development of advanced multifunctional platforms that combine diagnostics, targeting, and multiple therapeutic modalities. In this study, a novel, highly fluorescent, and magnetically guided nanocomposite HCCP-CUR-Ce6@M-MWNTs/N-CQDs-FA-PTX was engineered as an innovative approach to advanced multimodal cancer theranostics. The platform integrates N-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) functionalized with folic acid (FA) for precise tumor targeting and loading of the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX), yielding N-CQDs-FA-PTX. This targeted component is then combined with magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (M-MWNTs) functionalized with hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP), curcumin (CUR), and chlorin e6 (Ce6), which enable synergistic photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) effects. The fabricated nanoplatform exhibits high drug-loading efficiencies for both curcumin (CUR) and paclitaxel (PTX) with CUR integrated into the cross-linked HCCP framework and PTX effectively encapsulated by the nitrogen-doped CQDs functionalized with folic acid (N-CQDs-FA). This design enables synergistic chemo-photothermal and photodynamic therapy, efficiently inducing cancer cell ablation under 808 nm laser irradiation, and confirms pH-triggered rapid drug release at the targeted site. This multifunctional nanoplatform shows strong potential as an efficient and targeted strategy for comprehensive cancer treatment, representing a significant advancement in integrating imaging, chemotherapy (CT), and light-activated therapies into a single integrated system.