Liquid Metal Nanotransformers for Drug‐Resistant Pan‐Cancer Therapy in Patient‐Derived Organoids

Drug resistance remains a major obstacle in cancer therapy, and direct mechanical disruption of cellular structures offers a promising strategy for overcoming it, highlighting the urgent clinical need for an effective and universal pan-cancer treatment. Here, a cryo-responsive liquid metal (LM) nanotransformer platform is developed. It undergoes dramatic deformation under freezing, physically disrupting lysosomal membranes and inducing potent cytotoxicity, particularly against drug-resistant tumors, thus offering a broadly applicable pan-cancer treatment. To enhance deformation efficiency of LM transformers, bismuth (Bi) is incorporated into gallium (Ga) to form biphasic Bi-Ga alloy particles, which reduces Ga supercooling and promotes crystallization during freezing. The biosafety of LM particles is evaluated across multiple organoid models upon maximum contact. Based on 11 tumor organoid models including lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancers, the significant anti-tumor effects of LM-assisted cryotherapy are demonstrated, particularly Bi-Ga combined with chemotherapy illustrating the strongest anti-tumor efficacy. Transcriptomic analysis reveals LM anti-tumor mechanism on multiple cancers with altering gene expression related to necroptosis, metabolic regulation, and cellular stress. In addition, tumors receiving LM cryo-treatment exhibited hallmark features of immunogenic cell death. In immune-competent drug-resistant lung organoids, Bi-Ga cryo-treatment modulates tumor microenvironment and enhances immunogenicity. Collectively, this study establishes a universal LM nanotransformer-enabled pan-cancer strategy, offering a clinically viable and drug-free approach for overcoming drug resistance.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Science
Published
2026-04-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202521041
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Liquid Metal Nanotransformers for Drug‐Resistant Pan‐Cancer Therapy in Patient‐Derived Organoids

Cheng Hao, Simpkins Fiona, Zhongyao Chen, Q. Liu et al.
Advanced Science
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Liquid Metal Nanotransformers for Drug‐Resistant Pan‐Cancer Therapy in Patient‐Derived Organoids

Cheng Hao, Simpkins Fiona, Zhongyao Chen, Q. Liu, Mei Yu, Xuelin Wang, Ke Zhang, Huiping Li, Runyang Li, Jing Liu, Jingxuan Wang, Ziyi Chen, Xiaojie Yuan, Lei Zhang, Qiongqiong Zhang, Weining Gao, Shuo Wang
article en

Abstract

Drug resistance remains a major obstacle in cancer therapy, and direct mechanical disruption of cellular structures offers a promising strategy for overcoming it, highlighting the urgent clinical need for an effective and universal pan-cancer treatment. Here, a cryo-responsive liquid metal (LM) nanotransformer platform is developed. It undergoes dramatic deformation under freezing, physically disrupting lysosomal membranes and inducing potent cytotoxicity, particularly against drug-resistant tumors, thus offering a broadly applicable pan-cancer treatment. To enhance deformation efficiency of LM transformers, bismuth (Bi) is incorporated into gallium (Ga) to form biphasic Bi-Ga alloy particles, which reduces Ga supercooling and promotes crystallization during freezing. The biosafety of LM particles is evaluated across multiple organoid models upon maximum contact. Based on 11 tumor organoid models including lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancers, the significant anti-tumor effects of LM-assisted cryotherapy are demonstrated, particularly Bi-Ga combined with chemotherapy illustrating the strongest anti-tumor efficacy. Transcriptomic analysis reveals LM anti-tumor mechanism on multiple cancers with altering gene expression related to necroptosis, metabolic regulation, and cellular stress. In addition, tumors receiving LM cryo-treatment exhibited hallmark features of immunogenic cell death. In immune-competent drug-resistant lung organoids, Bi-Ga cryo-treatment modulates tumor microenvironment and enhances immunogenicity. Collectively, this study establishes a universal LM nanotransformer-enabled pan-cancer strategy, offering a clinically viable and drug-free approach for overcoming drug resistance.

Advanced Science
Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN), Peking University (CN), Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CN), China National Environmental Monitoring Center (CN), Peking University International Hospital (CN), Shenzhen Planck Innovation (China) (CN), Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (CN), Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital (CN), University of Pennsylvania (US), Beihang University (CN), Tsinghua University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality, Capital Health Research and Development of Special Fund
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 31%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
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