Integration of an AIE photosensitizer and a COX-2 inhibitor for synergistic and enhanced tumor therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a minimally invasive and precision-guided cancer treatment method. However, single-modality PDT is limited by incomplete tumor ablation, and paradoxical immune evasion triggered by inflammatory cascades. Herein, we present BTDA-IMC, a nanoplatform that integrates an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) photosensitizer with a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor to synergistically enhance PDT efficacy. This dual-function design enables AIE-driven near-infrared fluorescence for real-time tumor imaging while suppressing immunosuppressive pathways via COX-2 inhibition. The BTDA-IMC nanoparticles (BTDA-IMC NPs) exhibit uniform morphology, excellent colloidal stability, and tumor-specific accumulation, achieving 95.71 % tumor inhibition in vivo under laser irradiation. Notably, BTDA-IMC NPs demonstrates high biocompatibility with negligible systemic toxicity. This molecularly engineered strategy amplifies PDT efficacy while overcoming therapeutic resistance, offering a promising synergistic approach for cancer therapy.