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Research progress of photothermal-mediated immunotherapy in the prevention of tumor recurrence and metastases

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Abstract

Surgery is one of the most common tumor intervention methods in the clinical field, which results in postsurgical tumor regrowth and destruction of the body’s immune system. As a new method of tumor treatment, phototherapy has high selectivity and space–time accuracy and is minimally invasive. The therapeutic effects of traditional phototherapy are seriously damaged because of its limited permeability, and it can cause serious damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Benefiting from the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterial-based photosensitive materials can specialize in overcoming poor drug penetration depth, unfavorable biodistributions, prolonged blood circulation times, and also efficiently accumulate at tumor areas through enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effects. Photothermal therapy triggered by near-infrared (NIR) irradiation based on nanomaterials can directly destroy cancer cells, promote the production of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), and thus trigger anti-tumor immune responses. Therefore, TAAs can explosively release the natural ineffective antigens, and present immune vaccine-like functions in situ. Considering the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment postsurgery, immunotherapy against cancer cells is a highly complex process. Moreover, phototherapy-induced “abscopal effects” are weak in inhibiting cancer growth, usually resulting in unsatisfactory tumor therapy outcomes. Therefore, phototherapy synergistic immune reagents can promote lymphocyte infiltration and induce the microenvironment of immunogenic tumor, so as to obtain the greatest benefits in anti-tumor treatment. In this article, we will summarize some strategies of nanomaterial-based phototherapy synergistic immunotherapy in inhibiting tumor growth and prevention of cancer cell metastasis and recurrence.

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Abbreviations

EPR:

Enhanced permeability and retention

NIR:

Near-infrared

TAAs:

Tumor-associated antigens

PTT:

Photothermal therapy

PDT:

Photodynamic therapy

APCs:

Antigen-presenting cells

DCs:

Dendritic cells

HC:

Hyaluronic acid

Ce6:

Chlorin e6

PM:

Dextro-1-methyl tryptophan (1-mt)-conjugated polylysine

IDO:

Indoleamine-pyrrole 2,3-dioxygenase

PD-1:

Programmed death-1

PD-L1:

Programmed death ligand 1

IDOi:

IDO inhibitor

rGO:

Reduced graphene oxide

FA:

Folic acid

PEG:

Polyethylene glycol

UCNPs:

Upconversion nanoparticles

PSs:

Photosensitizers

MC540:

Merocyanine 540

OVA:

Chicken ovalbumin

TF:

Tumor cell fragment

AuNPs:

Gold nanoparticles

PLEL:

PDLLA-PEG-PDLLA

R848:

Resiquimod

ICG:

Indocyanine green

FDA:

Food and Drug Administration

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Affiliated Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University and The Second People’s Hospital of Huai’an, No.62, Huaihai Road (S.), Huai’an, 223002, China

    Huang Qian

  2. The Affiliated Wuxi People’s Hospital of Nan**g Medical University, Wuxi, 214000, China

    Yun Shao

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  1. Huang Qian
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Qian Huang made substantial contributions to the conception, paper collecting, and analysis of the work, and Yun Shao drafted the work; and final approval of the version to be published. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yun Shao.

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Qian, H., Shao, Y. Research progress of photothermal-mediated immunotherapy in the prevention of tumor recurrence and metastases. J Nanopart Res 24, 112 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-022-05496-2

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