Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a potentially advanced strategy for highly precise cancer treatment. Tumor-microenvironment-activatable agents provide useful tools for PTT, but their photothermal conversion capacities vary and cannot be evaluated in vivo; thus, a general PTT prescription does not work with individual activatable agents. Here, glutathione (GSH)-activatable nanocomposites, silicomolybdate-functionalized NaLuF4 :Yb,Er@NaLuF4 @NaLuF4 :Nd are prepared, for customized PTT of subcutaneous orthotopic cancer. By simultaneously determining intratumoral GSH concentration and the amount of accumulated agent using multiple orthogonal luminescent emissions of nanocomposites, near-infrared absorbance of photothermal conversion agents is evaluated in vivo, based on the optimized irradiating prescriptions (irradiating power density and time) established. This allows customized PTT of each individual case with high efficacy and viability. This work also includes a method for investigating individual intratumoral variation, and the development of the next generation of customized nanomedicine for efficacious PTT of subcutaneous orthotopic cancer.
Keywords: lanthanide-doped nanoparticles; luminescence imaging; photothermal therapy; temperature sensing.
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.