Optical gain and laser emission in fluorescent drug nanocomposites

Adding new functionalities to efficient drugs is an appealing challenge, which improves their applications both in basic research and clinical practice, provided the new drug preserves its original bioactivity. We describe herein the appearance of significant optical properties, such as optical gain and laser emission, due to the chemical modification of a blockbuster antitumoral drug by attachment of 7-nitrobenzo[c][1,2,5]-oxadiazol-4-yl (NBD) fluorescent tag to Tamoxifen, the most widely drug used in the treatment of breast cancer.