Bioinspired tissue-compliant hydrogels with multifunctions for synergistic surgery-photothermal therapy

Operation therapy is a common treatment for many cancers, but malignant tumors likely recur and metastasize after surgery, resulting in treatment failure. In this study, we aimed at synthesizing a multifunctional hydrogel patch that features multifunctions for synergistic surgery-photothermal therapy. Our polydopamine nanoparticle (PDA NP)-crosslinked poly(acrylamide-co-N-(3-aminopropyl)methacrylamide) hydrogels undergo several dynamic interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonds, π-π interactions, and imine bonds), which confer high stretchability (∼3430%) and adhesive strength to porcine skin (∼75 kPa) that mimics soft wound tissues. Furthermore, PDA NP incorporation into the hydrogel matrix endows it with photothermal responsivity under 808 nm irradiation. As a proof of concept, our hydrogel system was used to ablate residual tumors in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice models after surgery via photothermal therapy. We find that synergistic operation-photothermal therapy effectively eradicates solid tumors and prevents cancer recurrence in mice. We envision that our work provides an effective synergistic strategy for cancer treatment and offers great potential for clinical applications.