Rare-earth scintillating nanoparticles for X-ray induced photodynamic therapy

Recently, X-ray induced photodynamic therapy (X-PDT) has attracted wide attention in the field of deep-seated cancer treatment. Rare-earth scintillating nanoparticles (rare-earth ScNPs), a class of rare-earth compound nanoparticles, have X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL) characteristic and adjustable emission wavelengths, rendering them ideal X-ray energy converters in X-PDT of deep-seated cancer. However, more detailed and systematic X-PDT research based on rare-earth ScNPs should be conducted ahead of their clinical applications. This review focused on the research progress of rare-earth ScNPs-constructed nanoplatform in X-PDT with the challenges and prospects for rare-earth ScNPs-based X-PDT being discussed as well.