Compared with photon-induced binary cancer therapy, such as photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT), boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) emerges as an alternative noninvasive treatment strategy that could overcome the shallow penetration of light. One key factor in performing successful BNCT is to accumulate a sufficient amount of B-10 (>20 ppm) within tumor cells, which has been a long-standing challenge for small-molecule-based boron drugs. Boron nitride nanoparticles (BNNPs) are promising boron carriers due to their high boron content and good biocompatibility, as certain types of BNNPs can undergo rapid degradation under physiological conditions. To design an on-demand degradable boron carrier, BNNPs were coated by a phase-transitioned lysozyme (PTL) that protects BNNPs from hydrolysis during blood circulation and can be readily removed by vitamin C after neutron capture therapy. According to PET imaging, the coated BNNPs exhibited high tumor boron accumulation while maintaining a good tumor to nontumor ratio. Tail-vein injections of vitamin C were followed by neutron irradiation, and BNNPs were found to be rapidly cleared from major organs according to ex vivo ICP-OES analysis. Compared with the control group, animals treated with BNCT showed suppression of tumor growth, while almost negligible side effect was observed. This strategy not only utilized the high boron content of BNNPs but also successfully performed an on-demand degradation of BNNPs to avoid the potential toxicity caused by the long-term accumulation of nanoparticles.
Keywords: PET imaging; boron neutron capture therapy; boron nitride nanoparticles; on-demand biodegradation; triple negative breast cancer.