Developing safe and effective nanoprobes for targeted imaging and selective therapy of gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs) has become one of the most promising anticancer strategies. Herein, gold nanostars-based PEGylated multifunctional nanoprobes were prepared with conjugated CD44v6 monoclonal antibodies (CD44v6-GNS) as the targeting ligands. It was observed that the prepared nanoprobes had high affinity towards GCSC spheroid colonies and destroyed them completely with a low power density upon near-infrared (NIR) laser treatment (790 nm, 1.5 W/cm², 5 min) in vitro experiment. Orthotopic and subcutaneous xenografted nude mice models of human gastric cancer were established. Subsequently, biodistribution and photothermal therapeutic effects after being intravenously injected with the prepared nanoprobes were assessed. Photoacoustic imaging revealed that CD44v6-GNS nanoprobes could target the gastric cancer vascular system actively at 4 h post-injection, while the probes inhibited tumor growth remarkably upon NIR laser irradiation, and even extended survivability of the gastric cancer-bearing mice. The CD44v6-GNS nanoprobes exhibited great potential for applications of gastric cancer targeted imaging and photothermal therapy in the near future.

Maximizing the accumulation of anticancer medicine in the tumor is the priority to achieve minimal invasive cancer therapy, which raises high demands on tumor-targeting ability of drug delivery systems. Herein, we adopted an emerging “cell-drug” strategy via the nanoplatform construction to achieve high aggregation and intratumoral distribution. We fabricated gold nanostars (GNSs) with HER-2 monoclonal antibody (trastuzumab) and near-infrared region (NIR) photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) to obtain GNS@ICG-Ab, which combined the photothermal therapy with photodynamic therapy (PTT/PDT) that rely on enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency of GNS and ¹O₂ generator ICG under the exposure of a NIR laser. Tumor-tropism CIK cells loaded with GNS@ICG-Ab were able to migrate into tumors and make a difference in efficient accumulation and uniform distribution of the GNS@ICG-Ab-CIK nanoplatform inside tumors based on fluorescence, photoacoustic (PA), and computed tomography (CT) imaging observations. Encouraged by the improvements in tumor targeting and retention presented by real-time imaging, we employed the novel nanoplatform to synergistically inhibit the progression of tumors in SK-BR-3 tumor-bearing mice via PTT/PDT and immunotherapy-implemented by CIK cells for activating the immune response, and with the specific linkage between trastuzumab and SK-BR-3 tumor cells, our platform could exert a precise strike of PDT/PTT. Taken together, the integrating tri-modal imaging with tri-modal therapy endows CIK-GNS@ICG-Ab with promising potential in cancer theranostics and lays a solid foundation for the development of immune cell application in nanomedicine delivery.

Combination chemotherapy is considered to be one of the most effective treatments for breast cancer by reducing the emergence of drug resistance. In this study, a novel drug delivery system based on bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (BSA NPs) was successfully developed. Doxorubicin (DOX) and cyclopamine (CYC), a potential anti-cancer agent that inhibits the hedgehog signaling pathway were entrapped into BSA NPs through electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic interactions, respectively. Rather than simple combination of two different chemotherapeutics, the CYC also increased the intracellular DOX accumulation by decreasing the expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which could thus reverse the DOX resistance. Tumor-targeting property of nanoparticles was the prerequisite for its further application. Interestingly, retention of fluorescently-labeled particles in vivo indicated that the dual-drug-loaded BSA NPs could not only target the primary tumors, but also target the metastatic lymph nodes, which would simultaneously inhibit the tumor growth and distant metastasis. Taken together, this study provides a promising strategy for co-delivery of drugs, tumor and metastatic lymph node targeting, and DOX resistance reversing in breast cancer chemotherapy.

Successful development of safe and highly effective nanoprobes for targeted imaging of in vivo early gastric cancer is a great challenge. Herein, we choose the CdSe/ZnS (core-shell) quantum dots (QDs) as prototypical materials, synthesized one kind of a new amphiphilic polymer including dentate-like alkyl chains and multiple carboxyl groups, and then used the prepared amphiphilic polymer to modify QDs. The resultant amphiphilic polymer engineered QDs (PQDs) were conjugated with BRCAA1 and Her2 monoclonal antibody, and prepared BRCAA1 antibody- and Her2 antibody-conjugated QDs were used for in vitro MGC803 cell labeling and in vivo targeted imaging of gastric cancer cells. Results showed that the PQDs exhibited good water solubility, strong photoluminescence (PL) intensity, and good biocompatibility. BRCAA1 antibody- and Her2 antibody-conjugated QD nanoprobes successfully realized targeted imaging of in vivo gastric cancer MGC803 cells. In conclusion, BRCAA1 antibody- and Her2 antibody-conjugated PQDs have great potential in applications such as single cell labeling and in vivo tracking, and targeted imaging and therapeutic effects' evaluation of in vivo early gastric cancer cells in the near future.

Immunotherapy begins to be widely used due to the increasing exploration and gratifying effects in multiple cancers. Chordoma, as a rare bone malignant tumor, often recurs and metastasizes after undergoing surgery and radiotherapy. Therefore, immunotherapy can be explored as an emerging, potentially effective treatment to improve the survival rate and clinical benefit of patients. However, a variety of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) cannot be avoided completely. And the immunotherapy-induced myocarditis, as a rare but fatal irAE, has been increasingly reported. Understanding the mechanism involved in irAEs can inform best practices for side effects management. Here, we firstly reported a case of immune myocarditis and subsequent myasthenia gravis (MG) following anti-PD-1 treatment for chordoma.