Near-Infrared Light-Absorptive Stealth Liposomes for Localized Photothermal Ablation of Tumors Combined with Chemotherapy

Although near-infrared (NIR) light-absorbing organic dyes have recently been proposed for photothermal ablation of tumors, their clinical applications have often been hampered by problems such as low water solubility and minimal tissue absorption. Rapid development of nanotechnology provides various novel nanostructures to address these issues. In this work, doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded stealth liposomes are engineered through the incorporation of an NIR-absorptive heptamethine indocyanine dye IR825 into the thermoresponsive liposomes for photothermal/chemo combined cancer therapy. It is demonstrated that the lipid nanostructure can enhance the bioavailability of water-insoluble IR825 for efficient photothermal treatment, while delivering the anticancer drug doxorubicin to achieve simultaneous anticancer medication. The combined treatment of photothermal ablation and chemotherapy synergistically improves the overall cancer cell killing efficiency, which can be of future clinical interest.