Thermosensitive liposomal nanomedicine-functionalized photothermal composite scaffolds for light-guided cancer therapy

In breast cancer treatment, the elimination of residual cancer cells in a sustainable and controllable manner to prevent recurrence remains a critical challenge in postoperative adjuvant therapy. In this study, a novel implantable <i>in situ</i> therapeutic composite scaffold platform (ALA@lipo/Au/Gel/PGA) was developed based on a porous scaffold composed of biocompatible gelatin and polyglutamic acid (PGA). This platform incorporated the photothermal agent Au nanorods (AuNRs) and thermosensitive liposomes encapsulated with the photosensitizer precursor 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). Due to the satisfactory photothermal conversion effect of the ALA@lipo/Au/Gel/PGA composite scaffold, the use of near-infrared (NIR) light not only ablated the cancer cells in the scaffold through photothermal therapy (PTT) but also induced the accelerated release of encapsulated ALA from the thermosensitive liposomes. After uptake, ALA could generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species to increase tumour cell elimination efficiency <i>via</i> photodynamic therapy (PDT). Both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> experiments demonstrated the synergistic anticancer effects of the composite scaffold. These results highlight the potential of this phototherapy-induced composite scaffold as a new synergistic treatment method for breast cancer.