NIR light active ternary modified ZnO nanocomposites for combined cancer therapy

Recent developments in nanomedicine for cancer therapy enable nanoparticles for tumour specific therapeutics. Certain nanoparticles with their inherent physical/chemical properties can themselves act as drugs. Also they can be designed to respond to either tumor microenvironment or externally applied physical stimuli such as temperature, light, magnetic field, and ultrasound for tumor-targeted and enhanced anticancer efficacy. In this study, a simple design of cost-effective ternary modified zinc oxide nanocomposites possessing near-infrared (NIR) absorbance were synthesized using simple, fast, thermal decomposition route with hydrazine precursors. The in vitro cytotoxicity of these nanocomposites studied on human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and the human embryonic kidney normal cells (HEK 293) by MTT assay show that they are highly selective and are dose dependent against both the cell lines. The developed nanocomposites can be used for combined photothermal (PTT) and photo dynamic (PDT) cancer therapy.