In vivo photothermal treatment by the peritumoral injection of macrophages loaded with gold nanoshells.

Photothermal treatment methods have been widely studied for their target specificity and potential for supplementing the limitations of conventional surgical treatments. In this study, we conducted in vivo photothermal treatments using macrophages containing nanoshells as live vectors. We injected macrophages at the peritumoral sites and observed that they had penetrated into the tumor approximately 48 hours after injection. Afterwards, we irradiated with a near-infrared laser for 2 minutes at 1 W/cm(2), causing cancer cell death. Our study identified the optimal conditions of the photothermal treatment and confirmed the feasibility of its use in in vivo treatments. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America