A DiR loaded tumor targeting theranostic cisplatin-icodextrin prodrug nanoparticle for imaging guided chemo-photothermal cancer therapy

Imaging-guided diagnosis and chemo-photothermal combination therapy have promising applications for the treatment of cancer. Nevertheless, the accurate diagnosis and efficient treatment of tumors are not yet satisfactory. Herein, a tumor targeting DiR loaded cisplatin-icodextrin prodrug nanoparticle, with selective drug release, was fabricated as a multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform for chemo-photothermal combination therapy. By loading DiR into the hydrophobic domain of folic acid-icodextrin-polycaprolactone (FA-ICO-PCL, FIP) and cisplatin-icodextrin-polycaprolactone (Pt-ICO-PCL, PtIP) co-assembly, the resultant DiR@(PtIP + FIP) (DPtFIP) NPs had a diameter of around 70 nm and showed excellent tumor targeting ability and negligible side effects. Moreover, the DPtFIP NPs achieved real-time NIR fluorescence imaging of solid tumors with high contrast. By the accurate tumor imaging, local laser irradiation dramatically enhanced the chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer. Such a biocompatible nanotherapeutic holds great potential for tumor diagnosis and imaging-guided combinational cancer therapy.