Recent Progress of Aggregation-Induced Emission Materials in Tumor

Cancer is a leading cause of death globally with its incidence rate on the rise. Phototherapy has emerged as a novel approach for precise cancer treatment, offering benefits such as non-invasiveness, no drug resistance, minimal side effects, and ease of operation. Since Prof. Ben Zhong Tang conceptually coined aggregation-induced emission (AIE) in 2001, AIE materials have been extensively applied as efficient photosensitive and photothermal agents. Thanks to their highly twisted molecular structure, AIE materials avoid the issue of it-it stacking in aggregated states, thereby fundamentally addressing the aggregation-caused quenching problem observed in traditional fluorescent materials. This advancement leads to a significant enhancement in quantum yield and photostability. Herein, the author comprehensively reviews the latest applications of AIE materials as photosensitizers, photothermal agents, and diagnostic agents in cancer phototherapy.