Phototherapy using immunologically modified carbon nanotubes to potentiate checkpoint blockade for metastatic breast cancer

Yong Li, Xiaosong Li, Austin Doughty, Connor West, Lu Wang, Feifan Zhou, Robert E. Nordquist, Wei R. Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

Metastasis is the major cause of cancer-death. Checkpoint inhibition shows great promise as an immunotherapeutic treatment for cancer patients. However, most currently available checkpoint inhibitors have low response rates. To augment the antitumor efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors, such as CTLA-4 antibodies, a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) modified by a novel immunoadjuvant, glycated chitosan (GC), was used for the treatment of metastatic mammary tumors in mice. We treated the primary tumors by intratumoral administration of SWNT-GC, followed with irradiation with a 1064-nm laser to achieve local ablation through photothermal therapy (PTT). The treatment induced a systemic antitumor immunity which inhibited lung metastasis and prolonged the animal survival time of treated. Combining SWNT-GC-laser treatment with anti-CTLA-4 produced synergistic immunomodulatory effects and further extended the survival time of the treated mice. The results showed that the special combination, PTT + SWNT-GC + anti-CTLA, could effectively suppress primary tumors and inhibit metastases, providing a new treatment strategy for metastatic cancers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)44-53
Number of pages10
JournalNanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine
Volume18
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • 1064-nm laser
  • Breast cancer
  • Checkpoint inhibition
  • Glycated chitosan
  • Immunotherapy
  • Metastasis
  • Photothermal therapy
  • Single-walled carbon nanotube

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