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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Translational Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1553158
This article is part of the Research Topic Pharmaceutical Biomaterials View all 28 articles

Exploring the application of metal-based photothermal agents in photothermal therapy combined with immune checkpoint therapy

Provisionally accepted
Bin Xie Bin Xie 1Zhirong Xiao Zhirong Xiao 1Jiabao Ling Jiabao Ling 1Yichao Peng Yichao Peng 2Tianfeng Chen Tianfeng Chen 1*
  • 1 Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Department of Pharmacy and General Surgery of Puning People's Hospital, Puning, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Photothermal therapy (PTT), a popular local treatment that uses heat to ablate tumors, has limited efficacy in addressing metastatic and deeply located tumors when used alone. Integrating PTT with immunotherapy not only yields a synergistic effect but also promotes cancer regression and confers the benefit of immune memory, which can surmount the challenges faced by PTT when used in isolation. Metal-based nanomaterials, renowned for their superior photothermal conversion efficiency and distinctive photochemical properties, have been extensively researched and applied in the field of PTT. This review summarizes the latest developments in combination therapies, with a specific focus on the combination of PTT and immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) for cancer treatment, including a comprehensive overview of the recent advancements in noble metal-based and 2D transition metal chalcogenides (TMDCs)-based photothermal agents, and their anticancer effect when combining PTT with immune checkpoint blockades (anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-L1) therapy. The goal of this review is to present an overview of the application, current challenges and future prospects of metal-based photothermal agents in PTT combined with ICT for cancer treatment.

    Keywords: Noble metal, 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, photothermal therapy, Immune checkpoint blockades, immune checkpoint therapy

    Received: 30 Dec 2024; Accepted: 23 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Xiao, Ling, Peng and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tianfeng Chen, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.