Fe-involved nanostructures act as photothermal transduction agents in cancer photothermal therapy

Cancer, a disease notorious for its difficult therapy regimen, has long puzzled researchers. Despite attempts to cure cancer using surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, their effectiveness is limited. Recently, photothermal therapy (PTT), a rising strategy, has gained attention. PTT can increase the surrounding temperature of cancer tissues and cause damage to them. Fe is widely used in PTT nanostructures due to its strong chelating ability, good biocompatibility, and the potential to induce ferroptosis. In recent years, many nanostructures incorporating Fe³⁺ have been developed. In this article, we summarize PTT nanostructures containing Fe and introduce their synthesis and therapy strategy. However, PTT nanostructures containing Fe are still in their infancy, and more effort must be devoted to improving their effectiveness so that they can eventually be used in clinics.