Recent Progress in the Transition Metal Sulfide/Phosphide for Cancer Theranostic Applications

Transition metal sulfides/transition metal phosphides (TMS/TMP) has shown great potential in cancer diagnosis and treatment due to its unique structural, optical, acoustic and magnetic properties. TMS/TMP can be formed from sulfur/phosphorus source and metal into binary compounds, or from the interaction of hydrogen sulfide (or hydrogen sulfuric acid) with metal oxides or hydroxides. It has a series of unique properties, such as high conductivity, metalloid properties, a variety of valence states and adjustable structure and so on. These advantages make it have great potential in biomedical applications, such as diagnostic imaging, disease therapy and drug/gene delivery. This review presents the latest research progress of TMS/TMP on tumor imaging, diagnosis and treatment. Here, we first illustrate the synthesis approaches and surface modification of TMS/TMP. Then, its emerging applications in tumor diagnosis and therapy are highlighted. Moreover, the challenges of TMS/TMP-mediated diagnosis/treat are provided and the prospective for this field are discussed.