The “partial matching” between upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP) emission and absorption by photosensitizers (PSs) often leads to a theoretically reduced therapeutic efficiency in UC-based photodynamic therapy (PDT) strategies in which the chosen PSs have limited capabilities and are unable to utilize all the near-infrared-upconverted light. In this study, needle-like SnWO₄ nanocrystals (SWs) with a broad UV–vis absorption region were synthesized to solve the problem. After covalent conjugation with UCNPs, all the UCNP-emitted light was effectively absorbed by SWs, triggering the type-I PDT process to activate ROS maxima. The unique nanostructure of the as-formed UCNP-SnWO₄ nanohybrids (USWs) also enhanced the receiving light intensities of SW, which further boosted the antitumor efficacy. Meanwhile, the strong X-ray attenuation capacity of both tungsten and tin elements qualified the USWs as excellent radio-sensitizers for radiotherapy (RT) enhancement, which played a complementary role with PDT treatment because PDT-mediated induction arrested the cells in the G0-G1 cell cycle phase, and RT was more damaging toward cells in the G2/M phase. The remarkably enhanced UC-PDT/RT efficiency of USWs was next validated in vitro and in vivo, and the combined NIR light and ionizing irradiation treatment completely suppressed tumor growth, revealing its great potential as an efficient anticancer therapeutic agent against solid tumors.

上转换纳米粒子（UCNP）的发射和光敏剂（PS）的吸收之间的“部分匹配”通常会导致基于UC的光动力疗法（PDT）策略在理论上降低治疗效率，在这种策略中，所选PS的能力有限且无法利用所有的近红外上转换光。在这项研究中，合成了针状SnWO ₄纳米晶体（SWs），具有宽的可见光吸收范围，以解决该问题。与UCNP共价偶联后，所有UCNP发出的光均被SW有效吸收，从而触发了I型PDT过程以激活ROS最大值。所形成的UCNP-SnWO ₄的独特纳米结构纳米杂种（USWs）也增强了SW的接收光强度，从而进一步增强了抗肿瘤功效。同时，钨和锡元素具有强大的X射线衰减能力，使USW成为增强放射治疗（RT）的优秀放射增敏剂，这与PDT治疗起到了补充作用，因为PDT介导的诱导将G0-中的细胞停滞了。 G1细胞处于周期阶段，而RT对G2 / M阶段的细胞更具破坏性。接下来在体外和体内验证了USW显着提高的UC-PDT / RT效率，并且近红外光和电离辐射治疗的组合完全抑制了肿瘤的生长，显示出其作为有效的抗实体瘤抗癌治疗剂的巨大潜力。