Photothermal therapy as adjuvant to surgery in an orthotopic mouse model of human fibrosarcoma

Marina Simón, Jesper Tranekjær Jørgensen, Fredrik Melander, Thomas Lars Andresen, Anders Christensen, Andreas Kjaer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)
18 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Surgery is still the first-line treatment for multiple solid cancers. However, recurrence is a common issue, especially when dealing with aggressive tumors or tumors that are difficult to completely remove due to their location. Getting clear surgical margins can be challenging, but treatment strategies combining surgery with other anti-cancer therapies can potentially improve the outcome. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a technique that relies on photoabsorbing agents, such as gold nanoparticles, to transform light into local hyperthermia. This technique can be used to ablate tumor tissue where the photoabsorbing agent accumulates, sparing healthy surrounding tissue. In this study, we examined the potential of gold nanoparticle-based PTT as an adjuvant treatment to surgery in a mouse model of human fibrosarcoma. For this we performed subtotal tumor resection to mimic a clinical situation where total tumor removal is not achieved, and subsequent PTT was applied on the surgical field. Our results showed that animals undergoing adjuvant PTT after surgery presented sustained delayed tumor growth and improved survival when compared to animals that only underwent surgery. We believe that these findings show the potential of PTT as an adjuvant method to traditional tumor surgery and could pave way to more personalized treatment options.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5820
JournalCancers
Volume13
Issue number22
Number of pages13
ISSN2072-6694
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Fibrosarcoma
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  • Photothermal therapy (PTT)
  • Surgery

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