ABSTRACT Despite improvements in survival rates for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) through optimized radiotherapy and chemotherapy, significant challenges persist, including difficulties in early detection of recurrence/metastasis and risks of collateral damage from radiosensitivity. In particular, during induction chemotherapy for NPC, drug targeting is crucial to enhance tumor-specific delivery, minimize systemic toxicities, and overcome resistance mechanisms, such as those driven by molecular pathways in EBV-associated cases. Developing multifunctional agents for targeted diagnosis and therapy is therefore critical. Herein, we report cRGD-Cy5.5@Mn-ZIF-8/5-FU, a powder material-based nanotheranostic platform demonstrating high efficacy for NPC. This multifunctional system integrates: 1) αvβ3 integrin-targeting cyclic RGD peptides for tumor-selective homing; 2) dual-modal imaging capabilities (Mn 2+ -dependent MRI contrast and Cy5.5-based near-infrared fluorescence); and 3) encapsulated 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for chemotherapy. Preclinical evaluation reveals selective tumor accumulation and low systemic toxicity of cRGD-Cy5.5@Mn-ZIF-8/5-FU. The platform significantly suppresses NPC tumor progression compared to both free 5-FU and non-targeted Mn-ZIF-8/5-FU controls, confirming its targeted functionality. This integrated design enables real-time tumor visualization via fluorescence/MRI imaging concurrent with therapy. Our work offers a translatable powder material-based theranostic strategy for NPC, addressing challenges in therapeutic resistance and metastatic surveillance by unifying precise diagnosis and treatment within a single agent, while also establishing a nanoplatform foundation for combining diverse chemotherapeutic drugs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma therapy.
Liao et al. (Fri,) studied this question.