Black‐Phosphorus‐Incorporated Hydrogel as a Sprayable and Biodegradable Photothermal Platform for Postsurgical Treatment of Cancer

Abstract

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a fledgling therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment with minimal invasiveness but clinical adoption has been stifled by concerns such as insufficient biodegradability of the PTT agents and lack of an efficient delivery system. Here, black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets are incorporated with a thermosensitive hydrogel [poly(d,l‐lactide)‐poly(ethylene glycol)‐poly(d,l‐lactide) (PDLLA‐PEG‐PDLLA: PLEL)] to produce a new PTT system for postoperative treatment of cancer. The BP@PLEL hydrogel exhibits excellent near infrared (NIR) photothermal performance and a rapid NIR‐induced sol–gel transition as well as good biodegradability and biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo. Based on these merits, an in vivo PTT postoperative treatment strategy is established. Under NIR irradiation, the sprayed BP@PLEL hydrogel enables rapid gelation forming a gelled membrane on wounds and offers high PTT efficacy to eliminate residual tumor tissues after tumor removal surgery. Furthermore, the good photothermal antibacterial performance prevents infection and this efficient and biodegradable PTT system is very promising in postoperative treatment of cancer.

Two‐Dimensional Materials for Antimicrobial Applications: Graphene Materials and Beyond

“…Shao et al. demonstrated the photothermal antibacterial activity of BP . They incorporated BP with a thermosensitive polymer, poly( d,l ‐lactide)–poly(ethylene glycol)–poly( d,l ‐lactide) (PLEL), to produce BP@PLEL hydrogel as a sprayable and biodegradable nanoplatform for the postoperative treatment of cancer and photothermal sterilization.…”

“…[223][224][225] However,B Pn anosheets as antibacterial agents have been seldom reported anda re still under explora-tion. [235][236][237] The currentp rogress indicates that BP nanosheets themselves are incapable of bacterial inactivation;h owever, the unique bandgape ndowst hem with outstanding photothermal/photodynamic performance, which is highly promising to combat bacterial infection.…”

“…Shao et al demonstrated the photothermal antibacterial activity of BP. [235] They incorporated BP with at hermosensitive polymer,p oly(d,l-lactide)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d,l-lactide) (PLEL), to produce BP@PLEL hydrogel as as prayable and biodegradable nanoplatformf or the postoperative treatment of cancera nd photothermal sterilization. Under low-dose NIR laser irradiation (l = 808 nm, 0.5 Wcm À2 ), BP@PLEL hydrogel rapidly (in1min) and effectively eliminated > 99.5 %o ft he bacteria (Figure 19b,c).…”

Mitochondrion- and nucleus-acting polymeric nanoagents for chemo-photothermal combination therapy

“…The therapeutic efficiency of PTT usually depends on the photothermal agents (PTAs) that can convert light energy into thermal energy for cancer cell killing. Numerous PTAs have been developed, including metal-based PTAs [14][15][16][17][18], carbonbased PTAs [19][20][21][22], melanin-like NPs [23,24], conjugated polymers [25][26][27], black phosphorus [28,29], metal-organic frameworks [30], covalent organic frameworks [31], cyanine-based PTAs [32], and so on. However, some of these PTAs have shortcomings like tedious synthesis, non-degradable property, high cytotoxicity, and low photothermal conversion efficiency.…”

Stimuli‐Responsive Scaffold for Breast Cancer Treatment Combining Accurate Photothermal Therapy and Adipose Tissue Regeneration

“…In recent years, photothermal therapy was developed using various photothermal agents such as gold nanoparticles, graphene, MoS 2 , and organic nanoparticles to generate effective tumor inhibition meanwhile to decrease the side‐effect, due to its high spatio‐temporal operation, noninvasion, and low‐toxicity . Few studies further introduce photothermal agents into bioactive scaffolds to combine local photothermal therapy with tissue engineering, which was expected to simultaneously achieve enhanced healing of large tissue defects after surgical resection and effective killing of residual tumor cells . Although this strategy opened a window for integration of tumor therapy and tissue regeneration to solve the sequel caused by surgery intervention, conventional photothermal agents combined scaffold were all designed as sustained heat sources under irradiation regardless of their location, which may cause serious random damages to the preseeded stem cells, even the normal tissues surrounding tumor, during photothermal therapy .…”