Adjuvant Photothermal Therapy Inhibits Local Recurrences after Breast-Conserving Surgery with Little Skin Damage

Abstract

Adjuvant treatments following breast-conserving surgery (BCS) are essential to reduce the risk of local recurrences in patients with breast cancer. However, current adjuvant treatments are based on ionizing radiation, which brings radiation-induced damage and amplifies the risk of death. Here we explore the feasibility of using non-ionizing light to induce photothermal therapy as an adjuvant treatment to BCS. In an orthotopic breast cancer mice model, we demonstrate that adjuvant photothermal therapy (aPTT) decreases the incidence of local recurrences after BCS with no expense of cosmetic outcome. In comparison with conventional photothermal therapy, the technique used in aPTT provides more uniformly distributed light energy and less risk of skin burns and local recurrences. Overall, this work represents a departure from the traditional concept of using PTT as an alternative to surgery and reveals the potential of using PTT as an alternative to adjuvant radiation therapy, which is valuable especially for patients susceptible to radiation damage.

Increasing Photothermal Efficacy by Simultaneous Intra‐ and Intermolecular Fluorescence Quenching

“…In this case, tumors chosen for PTT are mainly superficial solid tumors. More recently, PTT has been applied as an adjuvant treatment for surgery resection of tumors . For example, Lu and co‐works demonstrated that adjuvant PTT could efficiently inhibit local tumor recurrences after breast‐conserving surgery with little skin damage 45a.…”

“…More recently, PTT has been applied as an adjuvant treatment for surgery resection of tumors . For example, Lu and co‐works demonstrated that adjuvant PTT could efficiently inhibit local tumor recurrences after breast‐conserving surgery with little skin damage 45a. These pioneering studies inspire us to apply our strategy on phototherapy‐synergized cancer immunotherapy or PTT‐assisted surgery to achieve a more efficient cancer therapy in the near future (especially for the treatment of breast cancer or melanoma cancer), where the PTAs can be in situ injected.…”

Chemotaxis-driven delivery of nano-pathogenoids for complete eradication of tumors post-phototherapy

“…In general, the limited light penetration in PTT causes heterogeneous heat distribution within the tumor tissue and fails to completely remove the whole tumor, thus leading to lethal tumor recurrence and post-therapy metastasis. Although the therapeutic efficacy can be improved, for example, by increasing the laser power or irradiation time, PTT involving a high temperature still has the drawbacks of overheating and skin burning 47 .…”

Recent Progresses in Phototherapy‐Synergized Cancer Immunotherapy

“…[31b,38] The popularity of gold nanoparticles can be attributed to their easy synthesis, targeting capability and favorable biocompatibility. [38c,d] In addition, gold nanoparticles display easy functionalization capability, allowing conjugation to different biological species including proteins and oligonucleotides[31b,41] via simple chemistry. For instance, Jon et al conjugated thiol‐modified CpG to gold nanospheres, creating photothermic and immunologic nanoparticles.…”