Near-Infrared Light-Triggered Switchable Nanoparticles for Targeted Chemo/Photothermal Cancer Therapy

Accumulation of nanoparticles in solid tumors depends on their extravasation, but their efficacy is often compromised by intrinsic physiological heterogeneity in tumors. The conventional solutions to circumvent this problem are size control of nanoparticles or increasing the vascular permeability. The aim of this study is to investigate the combination effect of size variation of stimuli-responsive nanoparticles and improved vascular permeability triggered by near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. Doxorubicin (DOX), a clinically proven drug for bladder cancer, was encapsulated in the nanocomposites with high loading content up to 45%. We show that NIR light-responsive size-switchable nanocarriers could considerably enhance the tumor-targeting of DOX in bladder tumor-bearing mice. Moreover, a combination of NIR-induced hyperthermia and DOX-mediated chemotherapy resulted in remarkable inhibition of tumor growth in mice. Histological results suggest that the change in morphology of tumor microvasculature may account for enhanced extravasation and accumulation of the nanodrugs upon NIR irradiation. Together, these data suggest that external stimuli-responsive drug delivery system offers a safe and effective means of targeted chemo/photothermal therapy.