Inorganic Materials-integrated Porphyrin for Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy: Promises, Challenges and Outlooks

Porphyrins are a class of cyclic organic compounds characterized by a large conjugated system, which allows for unique optical properties and strong interactions with various biomolecules. Due to their versatile structures, porphyrins have gained significant attention in biomedical applications, particularly in drug delivery systems. This review paper focuses on the recent advancements in porphyrin-based inorganic materials utilized for drug delivery, emphasizing their potential to enhance therapeutic efficacy while minimizing side effects. This review divides porphyrin-based materials into dendrimers, nanocarriers, and functionalized nanoparticles. Details on synthesis, drug loading capacity, release profiles, and biocompatibility are provided for each type. Porphyrin-functionalized nanoparticles can selectively target cancer cells, making them promising anticancer drug delivery vehicles. Conjugating porphyrins with targeting ligands or antibodies improves selectivity and treatment options. Photodynamic therapy with porphyrins is another important topic in this review. Photodynamic therapy is an innovative method that produces reactive oxygen species from lightactivated porphyrins and oxygen, damaging cancer cells locally. The review discusses how Photodynamic therapy with drug delivery systems can improve anticancer drug efficacy while reducing systemic toxicity. The review also discusses ways to improve porphyrin solubility and stability, which are crucial for clinical use. The review also discusses porphyrin-based drug delivery systems drawbacks. Porphyrin compounds' stability, phototoxicity, and complex interactions with biological environments are among these issues. We discuss encapsulation and hybrid systems that combine porphyrins with other materials to overcome these challenges.