Abstract: Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a highly selective molecularly targeted phototherapy for cancer which is based on injecting a conjugate of IRDye700DX,a water-soluble near-infrared silicon-phthalocyanine dye,and a monoclonal antibody that targets an antigen on the cancer cell surface. Subsequent local irradiation of NIR light causes the rapid and specific tumor cell death. Due to the good clinical translation prospects of NIR-PIT,this paper summarizes the influencing factors,antitumor mechanism,main challenges and recent strategies,which may benefit for its research and clinical application.