Gold Nanocage-Based Multifunctional Nanosensitizers for Programmed Photothermal /Radiation/Chemical Coordinated...

Radiotherapy is one of the main clinical methods for the treatment of malignant tumors at present. However, its application is limited by the radiation resistance of some tumor cells and the irradiation damage to the surrounding normal tissues, and the limitation of radiotherapy dose also affects the therapeutic effect. Therefore, developing diagnostic and therapeutic agents with imaging and radiosensitizing functions is urgently needed to improve the accuracy and efficacy of radiotherapy.

Herein, we synthesized multifunctional nanotheranostic FRNPs nanoparticles based on gold nanocages (GNCs) and MnO₂ for magnetic resonance (MR)/photoacoustic (PA) imaging and combined photothermal, radiosensitive and chemical therapy. A programmed therapy strategy based on FRNPs is proposed. First, photothermal therapy is applied to ablate large tumors and increase the sensitivity of the tumor tissue to radiotherapy, then X-ray radiation is performed to further reduce the tumor size, and finally chemotherapeutic agents are used to eliminate smaller residual tumors and distant metastases.

As revealed by fluorescence, MR and PA imaging, FRNPs achieved efficient aggregation and retention at tumor sites of mice after intravenous injection. In vivo studies have shown that the programmed treatment of FRNPs-injected nude mice which were exposed to X-ray after 808 laser irradiation achieved the greatest inhibition of tumor growth compared with other treatment groups. Moreover, no obvious systemic toxicity was observed in all groups of mice, indicating the good biocompatibility of FRNPs and the safety of the treatment scheme.

To sum up, our work not only showed a new radiosensitizer, but also provided a promising theranostic strategy for cancer treatment.