Biocompatible Iron Phthalocyanine–Albumin Assemblies as Photoacoustic and Thermal Theranostics in Living Mice

Exploring novel and versatile nanomaterials for the construction of personalized multifunctional phototheranostics with significant potentials in bioimaging-guided tumor phototherapies has attracted considerable attention. Herein, the phototheranostic agent human serum albumin-iron (II) phthalocyanine FePc nanoparticles (HSA-FePc NPs) were fabricated for photoacoustic (PA) imaging-guided photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer in vivo. The prepared HSA-FePc NPs exhibited high stability, efficient NIR absorption, good capability and stability of photothermal behavior with a high photothermal conversion efficiency of ∼44.4%, high contrast and spatial resolution of PA imaging, efficient cancer therapy, and low long-term toxicity. This potent multifunctional phototheranostic is, therefore, very promising and favorable for effective, precise, and safe antitumor treatment in clinical application.