由于纳米医学的进步，强大的抗肿瘤药物得以迅速发展。光热疗法（PTT）是一种治疗方法，纳米材料吸收激光能量并将其转化为局部热量，从而引发细胞凋亡和肿瘤消灭。与化疗、光动力疗法和放疗等其他治疗方法相比，PTT更精确、更安全，易于控制。过去的十年间，各种用于PTT的纳米材料被进行了评述，但是关于石墨烯量子点（GQDs）的综合研究甚少。由于其具有高水溶性、化学稳定性、良好的生物相容性和低毒性等优点，GQDs在医疗技术中受到了广泛关注。在对GQDs在PTT中的最新进展进行综述的基础上，本文总结了GQDs的性质和合成策略，包括自上而下和自下而上两种方法，并介绍了其在PTT中的应用（单独应用或与化疗、光动力疗法、免疫疗法和放疗等其他治疗模式的组合应用）。此外，本文还重点讨论了由PTT引发的GQDs的体外和体内毒性的系统研究，并详细介绍了PTT与GQDs的协同应用在肿瘤消灭中的综合研究。最后，本文描述了研究的方向、可能性和局限性，以促进更多的研究，从而开发出新的治疗方法，改善医疗保健，并使人们更接近健康的巅峰。© 2023 作者。

The rapid development of powerful anti-oncology medicines have been possible because of advances in nanomedicine. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a type of treatment wherein nanomaterials absorb the laser energy and convert it into localized heat, thereby causing apoptosis and tumor eradication. PTT is more precise, less hazardous, and easy-to-control in comparison to other interventions such as chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and radiation therapy. Over the past decade, various nanomaterials for PTT applications have been reviewed; however, a comprehensive study of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) has been scantly reported. GQDs have received huge attention in healthcare technologies owing to their various excellent properties, such as high water solubility, chemical stability, good biocompatibility, and low toxicity. Motivated by the fascinating scientific discoveries and promising contributions of GQDs to the field of biomedicine, we present a comprehensive overview of recent progress in GQDs for PTT. This review summarizes the properties and synthesis strategies of GQDs including top-down and bottom-up approaches followed by their applications in PTT (alone and in combination with other treatment modalities such as chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy). Furthermore, we also focus on the systematic study of in vitro and in vivo toxicities of GQDs triggered by PTT. Moreover, an overview of PTT along with the synergetic application used with GQDs for tumor eradication are discussed in detail. Finally, directions, possibilities, and limitations are described to encourage more research, which will lead to new treatments and better health care and bring people closer to the peak of human well-being.© 2023 Author(s).