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Nanoshell-mediated photothermal therapy improves survival in a murine glioma model

  • Laboratory Investigation - Human/Animal Tissue
  • Published:
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Abstract

We are developing a novel treatment for high-grade gliomas using near infrared-absorbing silica–gold nanoshells that are thermally activated upon exposure to a near infrared laser, thereby irreversibly damaging cancerous cells. The goal of this work was to determine the efficacy of nanoshell-mediated photothermal therapy in vivo in murine xenograft models. Tumors were induced in male IcrTac:ICR-PrkdcSCID mice by subcutaneous implantation of Firefly Luciferase-labeled U373 human glioma cells and biodistribution and survival studies were performed. To evaluate nanoparticle biodistribution, nanoshells were delivered intravenously to tumor-bearing mice and after 6, 24, or 48 h the tumor, liver, spleen, brain, muscle, and blood were assessed for gold content by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and histology. Nanoshell concentrations in the tumor increased for the first 24 h and stabilized thereafter. Treatment efficacy was evaluated by delivering saline or nanoshells intravenously and externally irradiating tumors with a near infrared laser 24 h post-injection. Success of treatment was assessed by monitoring tumor size, tumor luminescence, and survival time of the mice following laser irradiation. There was a significant improvement in survival for the nanoshell treatment group versus the control (P < 0.02) and 57% of the mice in the nanoshell treatment group remained tumor free at the end of the 90-day study period. By comparison, none of the mice in the control group survived beyond 24 days and mean survival was only 13.3 days. The results of these studies suggest that nanoshell-mediated photothermal therapy represents a promising novel treatment strategy for malignant glioma.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ying Hu of Rice University for assistance with transmission electron microscopy.

Funding

Funding was provided by a grant from Hope Street Kids to P.A.T; National Science Foundation (EEC-0647452 to J.L.W., Graduate Research Fellowship to E.S.D); National Institutes of Health (R21 CA118788 to J.L.W, MSCIDA 3 U10 HD037242-08S1 to P.A.T.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street MS-142, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    Emily S. Day, Nastassja A. Lewinski, Rebekah A. Drezek & Jennifer L. West

  2. Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Patrick A. Thompson, Linna Zhang, Nabil Ahmed & Susan M. Blaney

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  1. Emily S. Day
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  2. Patrick A. Thompson
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  3. Linna Zhang
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  4. Nastassja A. Lewinski
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  6. Rebekah A. Drezek
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  7. Susan M. Blaney
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  8. Jennifer L. West
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Correspondence to Jennifer L. West.

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Day, E.S., Thompson, P.A., Zhang, L. et al. Nanoshell-mediated photothermal therapy improves survival in a murine glioma model. J Neurooncol 104, 55–63 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-010-0470-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-010-0470-8

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