Fahime Nasr Esfahani
1 
, Sahand Karimi
2, Zahra Jalilian
1, Mehran Alavi
2* , Bushra Aziz
3, Enam Alhagh Charkhat Gorgich
4, M. R. Mozafari
1 , Elham Taghavi
5, Sargol Aminnezhad
6* , Sara Ataei
71 Australasian Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (ANNI), Monash University LPO, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia.
2 Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Kurdistan 6617715175, Iran.
3 Department of Physics, Women University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Bagh 12500, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.
4 Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran.
5 Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia.
6 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.
7 Department of Clinical Pharmacy (Pharmacotherapy), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a multidisciplinary area, which involves photophysics and photochemical sciences and plays an important role in cancer diagnosis and treatment. PDT involves a photo-activable drug called photosensitizer (PS), a specific wavelength of light and cellular compounds to produce toxic oxygen species in a much-localized way to destroy malignant tumors. Despite the various benefits of PDT, some PS-related limitations hinder its use as an ideal treatment option for cancer. To address these limitations (e.g., poor bioavailability, weak permeability, hydrophobicity, and aggregation), lipid-based and vesicular drug delivery systems have been employed. These carrier systems possess the ability to enhance the bioavailability, permeability, and solubility of the drug. Furthermore, they tend to load hydrophobic and lipophilic compounds and can be employed for an efficient and targeted drug delivery. The purpose of this review is to highlight the precise idea of PDT, the limitations of PDT related to PS, and the application of lipidic and tocosomal carriers in PDT for the treatment of various types of cancers. Liposomes, nanoliposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, vesicular phospholipid gels, exosomes, transferosomes, and tocosomes are presented as commonly–employed vesicular drug carriers. Moreover, the amalgamation of cell-based drug delivery systems (CBDDS) with PDT holds considerable potential as an encouraging avenue in cancer treatment, especially in the context of immunotherapy.