We report real-time monitoring of colorectal cancer, lymph node metastasis of colorectal cancer cells, and tumor growth inhibition through photodynamic therapy (PDT) using a near-infrared fluorescence diagnostic-therapy system with a light source for PDT and a fucoidan-based theranostic nanogel (CFN-gel) with good accumulation efficiency in cancer cells. To confirm the effect of the fabricated system and developed CFN-gel, in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed. Chlorin e6 (Ce6) and 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) were used for comparison. We confirmed that CFN-gel has a high accumulation efficiency in cancer cells and high fluorescence signals in near-infrared light for a long period, and only CFN-gel delayed the growth rate of cancer in terms of its size in PDT. In addition, using the near-infrared fluorescence diagnostic-therapy system and CFN-gel prepared for these experiments, the lymph node metastasis of cancer cells was imaged in real time, and the metastasis was confirmed through H&E staining. The possibility of image-guided surgery and identification of lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer can be confirmed through CFN-gel and a near-infrared fluorescence diagnostic-therapy system that includes various light sources.
Keywords: colorectal cancer; fluorescence imaging; image-guided surgery; lymph node metastasis; photodynamic therapy; real-time monitoring.