Self‐assembling bile pigments for cancer diagnosis and therapy
Kaiwei Chen, Ruirui Xing, Xuehai Yan
Abstract
Abstract Nanomaterials that integrate multiple functions provide promising opportunities for noninvasive and targeted cancer diagnosis and therapy. However, the unclear metabolic pathway to nanomaterials brought difficulties to clinical application. Self‐assembling bile pigments are endogenous functional materials with excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity. Functional materials based on endogenous bile pigments provide a decent solution to this dilemma. In this review, the features and functions of self‐assembling bile pigments are discussed in detail for cancer diagnosis and treatment applications. Emphases are put on the intrinsic physicochemical characteristics of bile pigments and their applications, including drug delivery, photoacoustic imaging, photothermal therapy, and anti‐inflammation therapy. This review will promote the exploration of these areas and tremendously realize the innovative applications of self‐assembling biliverdin /bilirubin nanomaterials toward cancer diagnosis and therapy.