| Imaging agent | Absorption wavelength (nm) | Cancer biomarker | Cancer type | Multimodality | Theranostics | Application | Reference |
| Endogenous optical compounds | Hemoglobin | 760–850 | Angiogenesis | Brain, breast, Prostate | — | — | Preclinical/clinical | [7–9] | Melanin | 700 | αvβ3, acidic microenvironment | Skin, ocular, lung | PET-MRI-PAI | PTT | Preclinical/clinical | [10–22] |
| Exogenous optical compounds | Indocyanine green | 600–900 | αvβ3, albumin, EGFR, B7-H3R, UPAR, acidic microenvironment, FR | Lung, liver, colon, brain | MRI-PAI | PTT | Preclinical/clinical | [23–44] | Gold NPs | 650–110 | αvβ3, acidic microenvironment, FR, siRNA gene-silencing, MAGE, intratumoral temperature, CXCR4 | Lung, prostate, ovaries, stomach, skin, brain | CT-MRI-PAI | PTT/PDT | Preclinical | [45–55] | Palladium NPs | 826–1068 | αvβ3 | Breast | — | PTT | Preclinical | [56] | Copper sulfide NPs | 826–1068 | αvβ3 | Breast | — | PTT | Preclinical | [57–61] | Bismuth NPs | 1000–1700 | EPR effect | Breast, brain | CT-PAI | PTT | Preclinical | [62–64] | Titanium NPs | 808 | EPR effect | Breast, cervix | — | PTT/PDT | Preclinical | [65–67] | Iron oxide NPs | 600–900 | FR | Breast, ovaries | PET-MRI-PAI | PTT | Preclinical | [68–70] | Superparamagnetic iron oxide NPs | 500–780 | HER2 | Breast | — | PTT | Preclinical | [71] | Carbon-based NPs | 350–700 | αvβ3, EGFR | Breast, brain, skin, lung, stomach | FL-PAI | PTT/PDT | Preclinical | [72–84] | Graphdiyne | NPs | 690 | FR | Breast | FL-PAI | Preclinical | [85] | Semiconducting polymer NPs | 660–748 | αvβ3, FR | Breast, brain, cervix | FL-PAI | PTT/PDT | Preclinical | [86–97] |
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