Knowledge Bank

Conventional cancer treatments, although efficacious to some degree, often lack specificity for their designated targets. By attacking both healthy and malignant cells, significant adverse effects occur in patients, including neuropathy, immunosuppression, and infertility. Further, it is estimated that more than half of oncology patients will never achieve long-term remission with the current available treatment options. This general idea underscores the necessity for advancements in targeted antineoplastic drugs that minimize patient harm while concurrently enhancing therapeutic outcomes. One potential route to achieving such a goal is photodynamic therapy, that being a minimally invasive treatment modality that selectively targets and destroys cells. Mechanistically, when a photosensitizing agent is administered, its accumulation in a select location can be therapeutically leveraged via irradiation: a specific wavelength of light transforms these agents into reactive oxygen species (primarily singlet oxygen), thus stimulating biological damage and ultimately cell death. This methodology, although holding much promise, faces several challenges, including the highly lipophilic nature of organic photosensitizers and their ability to effectively target tumors. Bearing this in mind, the proposal, synthesis, and application of a supramolecular organic cage, one that exhibits host-guest complementarity with carbon sixty (organic photosensitizer), capable of being functionalized to enhance tumor-targeting activity while simultaneously serving as a water-solubilizing, delivery apparatus is herein described.