Synergistic chemo-photothermal and ferroptosis therapy of polydopamine nanoparticles for esophageal cancer

Aim: To develop synergistic chemo-photothermal and ferroptosis therapy nanoparticles to improve the efficacy of treatment for esophageal cancer. Materials & methods: Fe3O4@PDA-HCPT nanoparticles (NPs) were constructed and characterized. Their synergistic antitumor effects were evaluated in EC1 and EC109 esophageal cancer cells as well as in esophageal cancer-bearing mice. Results: In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that Fe3O4@PDA-HCPT NPs exhibited significant tumor inhibition and excellent diagnostic properties. The killing ability of tumor cells was significantly enhanced after irradiation. Conclusion: Synergistic application of the three therapies effectively inhibited tumor growth and exhibited potent antitumor effects, providing strong support for developing nanoparticles with synergistic antitumor effects of multiple therapies. Plain language summary Synergistic treatment with multiple therapies has been shown to be a promising strategy for cancer treatment. Here, the authors designed Fe3O4@PDA-HCPT NPs composed of Fe3O4, polydopamine and the chemotherapy drug 10-hydroxycamptothecin. The authors achieved synergistic antitumor treatment with chemo-photothermal and ferroptosis therapy guided by T2-weighted MRI. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that Fe3O4@PDA-HCPT NPs exhibited significant tumor inhibition and excellent diagnostic properties, which supports the development of relevant synergistic tumor therapies.