Activatable fluorescent probes for real-time imaging-guided tumor therapy

Surgery and drug therapy are the two principal options for cancer treatment. However, their clinical ben-efits are hindered by the difficulty of accurate location of the tumors and timely monitoring of the treat-ment efficacy of drugs, respectively. Rapid development of imaging techniques provides promising tools to address these challenges. Compared with conventional imaging techniques such as magnetic reso-nance imaging and computed tomography etc., fluorescence imaging exhibits high spatial resolution, real-time imaging capability, and relatively low costs devices. The advancements in fluorescent probes further accelerate the implementation of fluorescence imaging in tumor diagnosis and treatment moni-toring. In particular, the emergence of site-specifically activatable fluorescent probes fits the demands of tumor delineation and real-time feedback of the treatment efficacy. A variety of small molecule probes or nanoparticle-based probes have been developed and explored for the above-mentioned applications. This review will discuss recent advances in fluorescent probes with a special focus on activatable nanoprobes and highlight the potential implementation of activatable nanoprobes in fluorescence imaging-guided surgery as well as imaging-guided drug therapy.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Surgery and drug therapy are hindered by difficulties in accurate tumor location and timely monitoring of drug efficacy, but rapid development of imaging techniques, particularly fluorescence imaging, provides promising tools to address these challenges. Fluorescent probes, especially site-specifically activatable nanoprobes, have been developed and explored for tumor diagnosis and treatment monitoring. This review discusses recent advances in fluorescent probes and highlights the potential implementation of activatable nanoprobes in fluorescence imaging-guided surgery and imaging-guided drug therapy.