Abstract
Within the field of nanoparticle-assisted photothermal cancer therapy, focus has mostly been on developing novel heat-generating nanoparticles with the right optical and dimensional properties. Comparison and evaluation of their performance in tumor-bearing animals are commonly assessed by changes in tumor volume; however, this is usually a late-occurring event. This study implements 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography imaging to perform early evaluation of the treatment outcome of photothermal therapy. Silica-gold nanoshells (NS) are administered intravenously to nude mice bearing human neuroendocrine tumor xenografts and the tumors are irradiated by a near-infrared laser. The animals are positron emission tomography scanned with 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose one day before and one day after treatment. Using this setup, a significant decrease in tumor uptake of 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose is found already one day after therapy in the group receiving NS and laser treatment compared to control animals. At this time point no change in tumor volume can be detected. Moreover, the change in tumor uptake, is used to stratify the animals into responders and non-responders, where the responding group matched improved survival. Overall, these findings support the use of 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography imaging for preclinical and clinical evaluation and optimization of photothermal therapy.
Highlights
Nanoparticle-assisted photothermal therapy is a technique that exploits the strong light-to-heat conversion of plasmonic nanoparticles when irradiated with resonant light[1,2,3]
Subcutaneous tumor xenografts were established in the left flank of 6 weeks old female NMRI nude mice (Taconic) by inoculation of ~ 106 H727 cells dissolved in 100 μl mixture
The nanoparticles were functionalized with 5kDa poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to passivate the nanoparticle surface and prolong circulation time in the bloodstream
Summary
Nanoparticle-assisted photothermal therapy is a technique that exploits the strong light-to-heat conversion of plasmonic nanoparticles when irradiated with resonant light[1,2,3]. The therapy is well-suited for cancer because tumors in general are known to have leaky vasculature that enables nano-sized drugs and particles to passively accumulate in the tumor tissue when injected into the bloodstream[4,5,6]. The leaky vasculature is known as the enhanced. 18-F-FDG PET imaging for evaluation of photothermal therapy
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