Abstract
Plasmonic photothermal and photodynamic therapy (PPTT and PDT, respectively) are two cancer treatments that have the potential to be combined in a synergistic scheme. The aim of this study is to optimize the PPTT treatment part, in order to account for the PDT lack of coverage in the hypoxic tumor volume and in cancer areas laying in deep sites. For the needs of this study, a mouse was modeled, subjected to PDT and its necrotic area was estimated by using the MATLAB software. The same procedure was repeated for PPTT, using COMSOL Multiphysics. PPTT treatment parameters, namely laser power and irradiation time, were optimized in order to achieve the optimum therapeutic effect of the combined scheme. The PDT alone resulted in 54.8% tumor necrosis, covering the upper cancer layers. When the PPTT was also applied, the total necrosis percentage raised up to 99.3%, while all of the surrounding studied organs (skin, heart, lungs and trachea, ribs, liver and spleen) were spared. The optimized values of the PPTT parameters were 550 mW of laser power and 70 s of irradiation time. Hence, the PPTT–PDT combination shows great potential in achieving high levels of tumor necrosis while sparing the healthy tissues.
Highlights
Cancer is a disease that, affects the lives of numerous people around the globe, while its complexity leads to a need for targeted and complex therapeutic approaches
As for the tumor surface, the scattered photons contributed to the local increase of the fluence rate by ~44%, which was expected from the literature [60]
Aftera athorough thoroughparametric parametric evaluation of the optimum treatment value combinaand, as the results of the part of this study suggested, the recorded temperature tion and, as the results of the plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) part of this study suggested, the recorded temperainture theintumor area could be high enough to destroy the cancer cellscells via via instant necrosis
Summary
Cancer is a disease that, affects the lives of numerous people around the globe, while its complexity leads to a need for targeted and complex therapeutic approaches. The current research trend is towards combination therapies rather than monotherapies [1]. In the field of non-ionization radiation therapies, plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) hold key roles, along with other well-established treatments (e.g., ultrasound and microwave hyperthermia). All the aforementioned therapeutic approaches have shown adequate and promising results, but on the other hand, they do have limitations [1–3]. Photothermal is one of the oldest therapies, dating back to 1700 B.C. Even the father of medicine, Hippocrates, had acknowledged its value, stating in Aphorism (7.87)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
