Recent Progress in Phthalocyanine-Polymeric Nanoparticle Delivery Systems for Cancer Photodynamic Therapy

Abstract

This perspective article summarizes the last decade’s developments in the field of phthalocyanine (Pc)-polymeric nanoparticle (NP) delivery systems for cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT), including studies with at least in vitro data. Moreover, special attention will be paid to the various strategies for enhancing the behavior of Pc-polymeric NPs in PDT, underlining the great potential of this class of nanomaterials as advanced Pcs’ nanocarriers for cancer PDT. This review shows that there is still a lot of research to be done, opening the door to new and interesting nanodelivery systems.

Monomerization of Phthalocyanines in Water via Their Supramolecular Interactions with Cucurbiturils

“…Introduction of charged peripheral substituents (anionic or cationic) or highly polar sugar moieties is the most typical approach found in the literature. Another strategy may involve the use of carrier systems such as polymers or liposomes or supramolecular interactions with various hosts such as cyclodextrins (CDs) or cucurbiturils (CBs) . The use of CDs to increase the water solubility and monomerization of various PSs is reported more often despite the fact that the latter hosts generally provide much stronger interactions with various guests.…”

Water-Soluble Quaternized Serotonin Substituted Zinc-Phthalocyanine for Photodynamic Therapy Applications

“…The problem is none of these options are actually flawless. In surgery, a reaction to medication, bleeding, internal organ damage, pain, scar tissue, and infection might occur as possible side effects [2,3]. Regarding chemotherapy, its main drawback is that highly cytotoxic anti-neoplastic drugs are used in chemotherapy, and thus, a fraction of healthy cells are destroyed along with cancerous ones [3].…”

“…Besides, being susceptible to infections, fatigue, dizziness, hair loss, dryness of skin, change of taste, loss of memories, and diarrhea are also other common side effects of chemotherapy [3,4]. Similar to chemotherapy, healthy cells are also damaged to some extent in radiotherapy by ionizing radiation that is targeted towards cancerous cells [2,3].…”

“…Alternatively, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been proposed as a promising method for cancer treatment. In PDT, a light source, photosensitizing agent and oxygen in the tissue, all of which are non-toxic alone, work together to destroy cancerous cells [2,5]. Briefly, the photosensitizers could selectively be accumulated in only cancer cells via use of enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, cancer biomarkers, functionalized nanomaterials or RNA-targeting [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Development of Multifunctional Nanoparticles for Therapy and/or Diagnosis

“…In this Special Issue, there are research articles focusing on the preparation and characterization of functional nanovectors for site-specific anti-cancer drug delivery [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] and review articles on the uses of polymeric nanoplatforms for the targeted delivery of imaging and therapeutic molecules [ 4 ] and biomedical applications [ 5 ] and on recent advances in the design of phthalocyanine loaded polymeric nanoparticles for cancer photodynamic therapy [ 6 ].…”