Experimental study on photodynamic therapy of CCA assisted by electrolytic oxygen supply based on black phosphorus...

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is the second most common malignant liver tumor after hepatocellular carcinoma. It is highly aggressive, and most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, losing the opportunity for surgical resection. What's worse, the palliative radiotherapy and chemotherapy have limited efficacy. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), based on photosensitizers, is a new treatment modality following surgery and chemoradiotherapy for tumors. Clinically, hematoporphyrin derivative preparations are commonly chosen as photosensitizers for PDT in CCA. Although these derivatives are widely used and their efficacy has been validated by numerous clinical studies, the actual long-term outcome mostly remains unsatisfactory. This is primarily due to their low efficiency in generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the inherently hypoxic microenvironment of CCA, which limits their function. To address these concerns, we constructed a nanocomposite based on black phosphorus nanosheets loaded with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, assisted by electrolytic oxygen supply. The study aims to enhance the cytotoxicity against CCA by leveraging the efficient singlet oxygen generation of black phosphorus and the Fe₃O₄-catalyzed hydroxyl radical production from hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, it proposes to improve the hypoxic microenvironment of CCA and increase the tumor's sensitivity to PDT by using direct current electrolysis (DCE) to generate oxygen. The primary focus of this research is to explore the regulatory mechanisms of hypoxia-PDT for CCA based on ultrathin black phosphorus nanosheets, providing new insights for optimizing clinical PDT for CCA.