The design and development of multifunctional nanoplatforms for biomedical applications still remains to be challenging. This review reports the recent advances in aqueous-phase synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) and their composites for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and photothermal therapy of cancer. Water dispersible and colloidally stable Fe₃O₄ NPs synthesized via controlled coprecipitation route, hydrothermal route and mild reduction route are introduced. Some of key strategies to improve the r₂ relaxivity of Fe₃O₄ NPs and to enhance their uptake by cancer cells are discussed in detail. These aqueous-phase synthetic methods can also be applied to prepare Fe₃O₄ NP-based composites for dual-mode molecular imaging applications. More interestingly, aqueous-phase synthesized Fe₃O₄ NPs are able to be fabricated as multifunctional theranostic agents for multi-mode imaging and photothermal therapy of cancer. This review will provide some meaningful information for the design and development of various Fe₃O₄ NP-based multifunctional nanoplatforms for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

用于生物医学应用的多功能纳米平台的设计和开发仍然具有挑战性。这篇综述报告了水相合成氧化铁纳米颗粒（Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs）及其用于磁共振（MR）成像和光热疗法的复合材料的最新进展。介绍了通过共沉淀法，水热法和轻度还原法合成的水分散性和胶体稳定的Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs 。改善Fe ₃ O ₄的r ₂弛豫性的一些关键策略详细讨论了NP及其增强癌细胞摄取的作用。这些水相合成方法也可用于制备基于Fe ₃ O ₄ NP的双模分子成像应用复合材料。更有趣的是，能够合成水相合成的Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs作为多功能治疗剂，用于癌症的多模式成像和光热疗法。这篇综述将为癌症诊断和治疗中各种基于Fe ₃ O ₄ NP的多功能纳米平台的设计和开发提供一些有意义的信息。