Advances in Multifunctional Chemotherapeutic Prodrugs for Near‐infrared Fluorescence Imaging‐guided Therapy

• Published in: Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology 2023-06, Vol.24 (12), p.e202300035-n/a
• Main Authors: Zeng, Jiayu, Liu, Minhui, Li, Songjiao, Cheng, Dan, He, Longwei, Yuan, Lin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Cell Line, Tumor; Chemical compounds; Chemotherapy; Drug delivery; Drug Delivery Systems; Drug development; Drugs; Fluorescence; Fluorescence Imaging; Fluorescent Probe; Fluorophores; Humans; Imaging Reagents; Infrared imaging; Medical imaging; Nanoparticles - therapeutic use; Near infrared radiation; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Optical Imaging; Photochemotherapy; Photodynamic Therapy; Precision medicine; Prodrugs; Prodrugs - pharmacology; Prodrugs - therapeutic use; Reagents; Side effects; Theranostic Nanomedicine; Tumors
• ISSN: 1439-4227; 1439-7633
• DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202300035

Conventional chemotherapy (CT) is associated with severe side effects and inducible resistance, making it difficult to meet clinical requirements, forcing the development of new multifunctional prodrugs for precision medicine. In recent decades, researchers and clinicians have focused on developing of multifunctional chemotherapeutic prodrugs with tumor‐targeting capability, activatable and traceable chemotherapeutic activity, as a powerful tool to improve theranostic outcomes in cancer treatment. The conjugates of near‐infrared (NIR) organic fluorophores and chemotherapy reagents create an exciting avenue for real‐time monitoring of drug delivery and distribution, as well as the combination of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Therefore, there are great opportunities for researchers to conceive and exploit multifunctional prodrugs that can visualize chemo‐drugs release and tumor treatment in vivo. In this review, the design strategy and the recent progress of multifunctional organic chemotherapeutic prodrugs for activating NIR fluorescence imaging‐guided therapy are described and discussed in detail. Finally, the prospects and challenges of multifunctional chemotherapeutic prodrugs for NIR fluorescence imaging‐guided therapy are provided. The multifunctional chemotherapeutic prodrugs that possess an effective combination of tumor targeting capability, activable chemotherapeutic activity, photodynamic therapy (PDT) assistance and near‐infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRFI) guidance are desirable to be engineered for real‐time monitoring of drug delivery, distribution, and synergistic chemo‐PDT in cancer treatment.