State-of-the-Art Preclinical Photoacoustic Imaging in Oncology: Recent Advances in Cancer Theranostics

Table 1

Summary of main endogenous and exogenous PA contrast agents.

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]