Curing cancer has been one of the greatest conundrums in the modern medical field. Because of side-effects associated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, photothermal therapy ( PTT) utilizing photothermal therapeutic agents (PTA)—accumulate in tumor tissues by intravenous injection—to further generate sufficient heat under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation for solid tumor ablation has attracted extensive attention of researchers. The method allows the local treatment process to be performed in a non-invasive direct and accurate manner due to the easy focusing and tunable properties of the incident light. In this review, we first summarize the major advances in PTA based on photothermal conversion nanomaterials in the study of ablation of solid tumors in recent years. Second, we summarize the different strategies to improve therapeutic efficacy. Finally, the limitations and challenges in the clinical application of photothermal tumor therapy based on photothermal conversion nanomaterials are discussed.