Figure 1.

Scheme for stimuli-activatable nanomedicine-assisted cancer theranostics. Activatable cancer nanomedicine is designed to be sensitive to endogenous (a low pH, over-expressed enzymes, an elevated concentration of active small molecules including redox agents, ATP, and glucose) and/or exogenous stimuli (light, radiation, ultrasound, magnetic field, and temperature), thus improving the efficacy of cancer theranostics, an integration platform of imaging modalities indicated by solid arrows (ultrasound, CT, MRI, PET, SPECT, and optical imaging) and therapeutic approaches indicated by dashed arrows (PDT/PTT, surgery, RT, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy). PET: positron emission tomography; SPECT: single photon emission computed tomography; PDT: photodynamic therapy; RT: radiotherapy.