Recent advance in near-infrared/ultrasound-sensitive 2D-nanomaterials for cancer therapeutics

In recent years, the emerging two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have shown great potential for a variety of applications such as electronics, catalysis, supercapacitors, and energy materials. In the biomedical arena, these nanomaterials, especially 2D-ultrathin nanomaterials, have also been regarded as promising nano-carriers and/or diagnostic agents for cancer diagnosis and treatment, owing to their remarkable mechanical, photothermal, and optical properties. In this review, we provide the recent development of the nanoplatforms based on near-infrared/ultrasound-sensitive 2D-materials, representatively such as graphdiyne (GDY), black phosphorus, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), and antimonene, for non-invasive cancer therapeutics including photothermal, photodynamic and sonodynamic approaches. The general properties of these 2D nanomaterials linking to biomedical interests are first introduced, followed by the fabrication processes of diverse nano-platforms and related outcomes of cancer diagnosis and treatments. We also outline the current challenges and prospects of the 2D materials for non-invasive approaches to cancer treatments in the future.