Photothermally responsive theranostic nanocomposites for near‐infrared light triggered drug release and enhanced synergism of photothermo‐chemotherapy for gastric cancer

Abstract

Near‐infrared (NIR) photothermal therapy plays a critical role in the cancer treatment and diagnosis as a promising carcinoma treatment modalities nowadays. However, development of clinical application has been greatly limited due to the inefficient drug release and low tumor accumulation. Herein, we designed a NIR‐light triggered indocyanine green (ICG)‐based PCL core/P(MEO 2 MA‐ b ‐HMAM) shell nanocomposites (PPH@ICG) and evaluated their therapeutic effects in vitro and in vivo. The anticancer drug 5‐fluorouracil (5Fu) and the photothermal agent ICG were loaded into a thermo‐sensitive micelle (PPH@5Fu@ICG) by self‐assembly. The nanoparticles formed were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and fluorescence spectra. The thermo‐sensitive copolymer (PPH@5Fu@ICG) showed a great temperature‐controlled drug release response with lower critical solution temperature. In vitro cellular uptake and TEM imaging proved that PPH@5Fu@ICG nanoparticles can home into the lysosomal compartments under NIR. Moreover, in gastric tumor‐bearing nude mice, PPH@5Fu@ICG + NIR group exhibited excellent improvement in antitumor efficacy based on the NIR‐triggered thermo‐chemotherapy synergy, both in vitro and in vivo. In summary, the proposed strategy of synergistic photo‐hyperthermia chemotherapy effectively reduced the 5Fu dose, toxic or side effect, which could serve as a secure and efficient approach for cancer theranostics.

Medical Applications and Advancement of Near Infrared Photosensitive Indocyanine Green Molecules

“…Under near-infrared irradiation, ICG converted light energy into heat energy, causing the micelles to change from a gel phase to a liquid crystal phase and release the chemotherapeutic drug. This design aimed to overcome chemotherapy-induced immune escape and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy [ 39 ]. ICG derivative for tumor therapy and diagnosis: Su et al chemically modified an ICG derivative (ICG-COOH) and paclitaxel (PTX) into hyaluronic acid (HA) backbone self-assembled nanomicelles ( Figure 6 E).…”

“…( C ) ICG-bound and GA-loaded polymeric micelles for local chemotherapy–photothermal synergistic therapy of breast cancer [ 38 ]. ( D ) Mechanism of PPH@5Fu@ICG for GC [ 39 ]. ( E ) Preparation of ICG-HA-PTX and imaging-guided photothermal effect [ 40 ].…”

Nanotechnology: optimal applications in anti-cancer drug medicine treatment and diagnosis

“…The photo-thermal drug delivery system uses a variety of nanomaterials, including carbonbased nanomaterials, metal oxide nanoparticles, grapheme-based nanomaterials, and NIR absorption dyes (Sajjadi et al, 2021) . Gold nanoshell-coated betulinic acid liposomes (AuNS-BA-Lips), created by Liu et al, exhibit regulated drug release with a synergistic impact of chemo-therapy and thermal-therapy, and can decrease tumor growth by up to 83.02% (Zhou et al, 2022 ;Abid Ali Baker et al, 2007). When tested on U-87 MG cancer cells, a nanocomposite comprising spiropyranfunctionalized amphiphilic polymers and upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) loaded with doxorubicin destroyed 60% of the cancer cells (Jin et al, 2021).…”

Robotic distal gastrectomy using a novel pre-emptive supra-pancreatic approach without duodenal transection in the dissection of D2 lymph nodes for gastric cancer

“…Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant cancers of the digestive system and the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths worldwide. Surgical resection is the primary curative treatment option ( 1 ). Robotic gastrectomy (RG) has become popular as a state-of-the-art, minimally invasive surgery for patients with GC.…”