The multidisciplinary field of photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a combination of photochemistry and photophysics sciences, which has shown tremendous potential for cancer therapy application. PDT employs a photosensitizing agent (PS) and light to form cytotoxic reactive oxygen species and subsequently oxidize light-exposed tissue. Despite numerous advantages of PDT and enormous progress in this field, common PSs are still far from ideal treatment because of their poor permeability, non-specific phototoxicity, side effects, hydrophobicity, weak bioavailability, and tendency to self-aggregation. To circumvent these limitations, PS can be encapsulated in liposomes, an advanced drug delivery system that has demonstrated the ability to enhance drug permeability into biological membranes and loading both hydrophobic and lipophilic agents. Moreover, liposomes can also be coated by targeting agents to improve delivery efficiency. The present review aims to summarize the principles of PDT, various PS generations, PS-loaded nanoparticles, liposomes, and their impact on PDT, then discuss recent photodynamic cancer therapy strategies using liposomes as PS-loaded vectors, and highlight future possibilities and perspectives.

光动力治疗（PDT）的多学科领域是光化学和光物理学的结合，在癌症治疗应用中显示出巨大的潜力。PDT 使用光敏剂 (PS) 和光来形成细胞毒性活性氧，然后氧化暴露于光的组织。尽管 PDT 具有众多优势并在该领域取得了巨大进展，但由于其渗透性差、非特异性光毒性、副作用、疏水性、生物利用度弱和自聚集倾向，普通 PS 仍远非理想的治疗方法。为了规避这些限制，可以将 PS 封装在脂质体中，这是一种先进的药物递送系统，已证明能够增强药物对生物膜的渗透性并装载疏水性和亲脂性药物。而且，脂质体也可以通过靶向剂包被以提高递送效率。本综述旨在总结 PDT 的原理、各种 PS 代、PS 负载纳米粒子、脂质体及其对 PDT 的影响，然后讨论最近使用脂质体作为 PS 负载载体的光动力癌症治疗策略，并强调未来的可能性和前景。