Photonic Therapies in Cancer Treatment

Photonic therapies harness non-ionising light to treat malignant tissues with high spatial precision. Photothermal therapy employs agents that convert absorbed photons into heat, inducing localised hyperthermia and tumour ablation. Photodynamic therapy activates photosensitisers to generate reactive oxygen species, triggering cell death and immunogenic responses. Advances in nanocarrier design have enabled targeted delivery of photonic agents, improving accumulation in tumours while minimising systemic exposure. Parallel progress in implantable and wireless optoelectronic devices permits programmable light emission at specific wavelengths, overcoming the barrier of shallow light penetration and enabling sustained treatment of deep-seated lesions. Hybrid strategies integrating real-time monitoring, multi-modal irradiation and immunomodulation are emerging, offering personalised and minimally invasive interventions. Collectively, these innovations promise to broaden the clinical applicability of photonic approaches across diverse tumour types and healthcare settings worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have reported a bridging strategy to reassemble human serum albumin into nano-carriers with uniform size, enhanced loading capacity of near-infrared dyes and high photothermal conversion efficiency, achieving superior tumour ablation in preclinical models. Another approach demonstrated metronomic photodynamic therapy using a fully implantable, wirelessly powered green LED device combined with orally administered 5-aminolevulinic acid, yielding sustained antitumour effects over several days with reduced patient burden. In parallel, ultrasonically powered micro-light sources equipped with miniature LEDs have been developed to deliver therapeutic light doses deep into tissue, enabling in situ activation of photosensitisers and significant cytotoxicity in solid tumour xenografts.

Photonic Therapies in Cancer Treatment publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in photonic therapies in cancer treatment across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Photodynamic therapy: Use of light and a chemical photosensitiser to generate reactive oxygen species that kill cancer cells.

Photothermal therapy: Conversion of light energy into heat by photothermal agents to ablate tumour tissue.

Photosensitiser: Molecular agent that, upon light absorption, produces cytotoxic reactive species.

Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer: Process by which an enzyme-mediated light emission transfers energy to a photosensitiser without external illumination.

Implantable optoelectronic system: Miniaturised device designed for in vivo light delivery to deep-seated tumours.

References

1. NIR-dye bridged human serum albumin reassemblies for effective photothermal therapy of tumor. Nature Communications (2023).
2. Fully implantable and battery-free wireless optoelectronic system for modulable cancer therapy and real-time monitoring. npj Flexible Electronics (2023).
3. Metronomic photodynamic therapy using an implantable LED device and orally administered 5-aminolevulinic acid. Scientific Reports (2020).
4. An Implantable Ultrasonically-Powered Micro-Light-Source (µLight) for Photodynamic Therapy. Scientific Reports (2019).
5. Genetically encoded BRET-activated photodynamic therapy for the treatment of deep-seated tumors. Light: Science & Applications (2022).
6. Fiber‐Optic Theranostics (FOT): Interstitial Fiber‐Optic Needles for Cancer Sensing and Therapy. Advanced Science (2022).