Malignant brain tumors, a heterogeneous group of primary and metastatic neoplasms in the central nervous system (CNS), are notorious for their highly invasive and devastating characteristics, dismal prognosis and low survival rate. Recently, near-infrared (NIR) optical imaging modalities including fluorescence imaging (FLI) and photoacoustic imaging (PAI) have displayed bright prospect in innovation of brain tumor diagnoses, due to their merits, like noninvasiveness, high spatiotemporal resolution, good sensitivity and large penetration depth. Importantly, these imaging techniques have been widely used to vividly guide diverse brain tumor therapies in a real-time manner with high accuracy and efficiency. Herein, we provide a systematic summary of the state-of-the-art NIR contrast agents (CAs) for brain tumors single-modal imaging (e.g., FLI and PAI), dual-modal imaging (e.g., FLI/PAI, FLI/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and PAI/MRI) and triple-modal imaging (e.g., MRI/FLI/PAI and MRI/PAI/computed tomography (CT) imaging). In addition, we update the most recent progress on the NIR optical imaging-guided therapies, like single-modal (e.g., photothermal therapy (PTT), chemotherapy, surgery, photodynamic therapy (PDT), gene therapy and gas therapy), dual-modal (e.g., PTT/chemotherapy, PTT/surgery, PTT/PDT, PDT/chemotherapy, PTT/chemodynamic therapy (CDT) and PTT/gene therapy) and triple-modal (e.g., PTT/PDT/chemotherapy, PTT/PDT/surgery, PTT/PDT/gene therapy and PTT/gene/chemotherapy). Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of the CAs and nanotheranostics for future clinic translation.

恶性脑肿瘤是中枢神经系统 (CNS) 中一组异质性原发性和转移性肿瘤，因其高侵袭性和破坏性特征、预后差和生存率低而臭名昭著。近年来，近红外（NIR）光学成像模式，包括荧光成像（FLI）和光声成像（PAI），由于其无创、时空分辨率高、灵敏度好、体积大等优点，在脑肿瘤诊断的创新中展现出广阔的前景。渗透深度。重要的是，这些成像技术已被广泛用于以高精度和高效的实时方式生动地指导各种脑肿瘤治疗。在此，我们系统总结了用于脑肿瘤单模态成像的最先进的 NIR 造影剂 (CA)。例如，FLI 和 PAI）、双模态成像（例如，FLI/PAI、FLI/磁共振成像 (MRI) 和 PAI/MRI）和三模态成像（例如，MRI/FLI/PAI 和 MRI/PAI/计算断层扫描（CT）成像）。此外，我们更新了近红外光学成像引导治疗的最新进展，如单模式（如光热疗法（PTT）、化学疗法、手术、光动力疗法（PDT）、基因疗法和气体疗法）、双模式模式（例如，PTT/化疗、PTT/手术、PTT/PDT、PDT/化疗、PTT/化学动力学治疗（CDT）和PTT/基因治疗）和三联模式（例如、PTT/PDT/化疗、PTT/PDT/手术、PTT/PDT/基因治疗和PTT/基因/化疗）。最后，我们讨论了 CA 和纳米治疗对未来临床翻译的机遇和挑战。