Nanoparticles for X-ray or Cherenkov radiation-induced photodynamic therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds great potential in cancer treatment but is limited by shallow tissue penetration of light. Recently, novel PDT technologies, including X-ray-induced photodynamic therapy (X-PDT) and Cherenkov irradiation-induced photodynamic therapy (CR-PDT), have been developed to address the penetration issue. Nanoparticles play essential roles in X-PDT and CR-PDT, functioning as either scintillators or photosensitizers that enable efficient energy transfer and PDT activation. Other functional molecules such as tumor-specific ligands can be coupled to the nanoparticles to render the nanoparticles with tumor-targeting ability.