Full-course NIR-II imaging-navigated fractionated photodynamic therapy of bladder tumours with X-ray-activated nanotransducers

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 8240 - 19
• Main Authors: He, Liangrui, Wang, Liyang, Yu, Xujiang, Tang, Yizhang, Jiang, Zhao, Yang, Guoliang, Liu, Zhuang, Li, Wanwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19.09.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 59; 631/67/589/1336; 639/925/352/2733; 692/4028/67/2321; Animals; Bladder; Bladder cancer; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Carcinogens; Cell Line, Tumor; Female; Homeostasis; Homing behavior; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; I.R. radiation; Infrared imaging; Infrared Rays; Invasiveness; Irradiation; Medical imaging; Medical prognosis; Mice; multidisciplinary; Near infrared radiation; Photochemotherapy - methods; Photodynamic therapy; Photosensitizing Agents - therapeutic use; Real time; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Survival; Tumors; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - drug therapy; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - pathology; X ray imagery; X ray irradiation; X-Rays
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52607-9

The poor 5-year survival rate for bladder cancers is associated with the lack of efficient diagnostic and treatment techniques. Despite cystoscopy-assisted photomedicine and external radiation being promising modalities to supplement or replace surgery, they remain invasive or fail to provide real-time navigation. Here, we report non-invasive fractionated photodynamic therapy of bladder cancer with full-course real-time near-infrared-II imaging based on engineered X-ray-activated nanotransducers that contain lanthanide-doped nanoscintillators with concurrent emissions in visible and the second near-infrared regions and conjugated photosensitizers. Following intravesical instillation in mice with carcinogen-induced autochthonous bladder tumours, tumour-homing peptide-labelled nanotransducers realize enhanced tumour regression, robust recurrence inhibition, improved survival rates, and restored immune homeostasis under X-ray irradiation with accompanied near-infrared-II imaging. On-demand fractionated photodynamic therapy with customized doses is further achieved based on quantifiable near-infrared-II imaging signal-to-background ratios. Our study presents a promising non-invasive strategy to confront the current bladder cancer dilemma from diagnosis to treatment and prognosis. The poor survival rate for bladder cancers is associated with the lack of effective non-invasive theranostic techniques. Here this group reports a lanthanide-doped nanotransducer activated for real-time NIR-II imaging thereby navigates the photodynamic treatment of bladder cancer.