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Many theranostic nanomedicines (NMs) have been fabricated by packaging imaging and therapeutic moieties together. However, concerns about their potential architecture instability and pharmacokinetic complexity remain major obstacles to their clinical translation. Herein, we demonstrated the use of CuInS/ZnS quantum dots (ZCIS QDs) as “all-in-one” theranostic nanomedicines that possess intrinsic imaging and therapeutic capabilities within a well-defined nanostructure. ZCIS QDs were exploited for multispectral optical tomography (MSOT) imaging and synergistic PTT/PDT therapy. Due to the intrinsic fluorescence/MSOT imaging ability of the ZCIS QDs, their size-dependent distribution profiles were successfully visualized at tumor sites in vivo. Our results showed that the smaller nanomedicines (ZCIS NMs-25) have longer tumor retention times, higher tumor uptake, and deeper tumor penetration than the larger nanomedicines (ZCIS NMs-80). The ability of ZCIS QDs to mediate photoinduced tumor ablation was also explored. Our results verified that under a single 660 nm laser irradiation, the ZCIS NMs had simultaneous inherent photothermal and photodynamic effects, resulting in high therapy efficacy against tumors. In summary, the ZCIS QDs as “all-in-one” versatile nanomedicines allow high therapeutic efficacy as well as noninvasively monitoring tumor site localization profiles by imaging techniques and thus hold great potential as precision theranostic nanomedicines.

In this study, a magnetothermodynamic (MTD) therapy is introduced as an efficient systemic cancer treatment, by combining the magnetothermal effect and the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related immunologic effect, in order to overcome the obstacle of limited therapeutic efficacy in current magnetothermal therapy (MTT). This approach was achieved by the development of an elaborate ferrimagnetic vortex-domain iron oxide nanoring and graphene oxide (FVIOs-GO) hybrid nanoparticle as the efficient MTD agent. Such a FVIOs-GO nanoplatform was shown to have high thermal conversion efficiency, and it was further proved to generate a significantly amplified ROS level under an alternating magnetic field (AMF). Both in vitro and in vivo results revealed that amplified ROS generation was the dominant factor in provoking a strong immune response at a physiological tolerable temperature below 40 °C in a hypoxic tumor microenvironment. This was supported by the exposure of calreticulin (CRT) on 83% of the 4T1 breast cancer cell surface, direct promotion of macrophage polarization to pro-inflammatory M1 phenotypes, and further elevation of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes. As a result of the dual action of magnetothermal effect and ROS-related immunologic effect, impressive in vivo systemic therapeutic efficacy was attained at a low dosage of 3 mg Fe/kg with two AMF treatments, as compared to that of MTT (high dosage of 6–18 mg/kg under four to eight AMF treatments). The MTD therapy reported here has highlighted the inadequacy of conventional MTT that solely relies on the heating effect of the MNPs. Thus, by employing a ROS-mediated immunologic effect, future cancer magnetotherapies can be designed with greatly improved antitumor capabilities.

Potential bioaccumulation is one of the biggest limitations for silica nanodrug delivery systems in cancer therapy. In this study, a mesoporous silica nanoparticles/hydroxyapatite (MSNs/HAP) hybrid drug carrier, which enhanced the biodegradability of silica, was developed by a one-step method. The morphology and structure of the nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, DLS, FT-IR, XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, and XPS, and the drug loading and release behaviors were tested. TEM and ICP-OES results indicate that the degradability of the nanoparticles has been significantly improved by Ca(2+) escape from the skeleton in an acid environment. The MSNs/HAP sample exhibits a higher drug loading content of about 5 times that of MSNs. The biological experiment results show that the MSNs/HAP not only exhibits good biocompatibility and antitumor effect but also greatly reduces the side effects of free DOX. The as-synthesized hybrid nanoparticles may act as a promising drug delivery system due to their good biocompatibility, high drug loading efficiency, pH sensitivity, and excellent biodegradability.

Combined chemo/chemodynamic therapy is a promising strategy to achieve an improved anticancer effect. However, the hypoxic microenvironment and limited amount of H2O2 in most solid tumors severely restrict the efficacy of this treatment. Herein, the construction of a nanocatalytic medicine, CaO2@DOX@ZIF‐67, via a bottom‐up approach is described. CaO2@DOX@ZIF‐67 simultaneously supplies O2 and H2O2 to achieve improved chemo/chemodynamic therapy. In the weakly acidic environment within tumors, CaO2@DOX@ZIF‐67 is broken down to rapidly release the Fenton‐like catalyst Co2+ and the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX). The unprotected CaO2 reacts with H2O to generate both O2 and H2O2. The generated O2 relieves the hypoxia in the tumor and further improve the efficacy of DOX. Meanwhile, the generated H2O2 reacts with Co2+ ions to produce highly toxic •OH through a Fenton‐like reaction, resulting in improved chemodynamic therapy.

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