Cancer has been one of the major threats to human being for centuries. Over the last decades, phototherapy has been demonstrated as a non-invasive, controllable and targeted strategy to eliminate cancer cells. The effective and innovative therapeutic methods including photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT) and their combinations have attracted more and more attention due to their distinct advantages and superb therapeutic effects. In this regard, diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivatives have emerged as a new generation of photosensitizers and photothermal agents with easy functionalization, tunable photophysical properties, high fluorescence quantum yields, excellent thermo-stability and photostability. This review provides an overview of recent progress of DPP-based photosensitizers for PDT and PTT in advanced therapeutic applications. Finally, the perspectives and challenges of PTT and PDT for combating cancer are discussed. We hope this feature article will provide a valuable guidance to establish promising cancer therapeutic platforms in the future clinical settings.

几个世纪以来，癌症一直是对人类的主要威胁之一。在过去的几十年中，光疗已被证明是消除癌细胞的一种非侵入性，可控制且有针对性的策略。包括光热疗法（PTT），光动力疗法（PDT）及其组合的有效和创新的治疗方法因其独特的优势和卓越的治疗效果而受到越来越多的关注。在这方面，二酮吡咯并吡咯（DPP）衍生物已成为新一代的光敏剂和光热剂，具有易于官能化，可调节的光物理性质，高荧光量子产率，出色的热稳定性和光稳定性的特点。这篇综述概述了基于DPP的光敏剂在PDT和PTT在先进治疗应用中的最新进展。最后，讨论了PTT和PDT对抗癌症的观点和挑战。我们希望这篇专题文章将为在未来的临床环境中建立有希望的癌症治疗平台提供有价值的指导。