الفهرس 
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Abstract
Nanotechnology has recently emerged as a promising approach in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemotherapy often induce synergistic effects that markedly exceed the sum of individual treatments alone in cancer treatment.
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of combined photothermal and nanochemotherapy in the form of gold nanorods (GNRs) [the photothermal agent] and nanothymoquinone (NTQ) [the chemotherapeutic agent]. They were loaded on Poly [lactide-co-glycolide] (PLGA) as a drug delivery system. For specific targeting of the prepared compound to tumor cells; folic acid (FA) was attached to the nanocapsules.
This study had used an in vitro and in vivo models. SCC-15 was the selected cell line [in vitro study] and cytotoxicity of the prepared compounds (GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA/laser, GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA without laser GNR/ PLGA/FA/laser and NTQ/PLGA/FA) were measured by MTT assay. The combined therapy with laser showed higher cytotoxicity against the malignant cells while the combined drug without laser was the lowest. Images of transmission electron microscopy demonstrated obvious signs of apoptosis and necrosis on the treated cells.
In vivo study was carried out on sixty male Syrian golden hamsters. They were divided into control groups (A) and treated groups (B) as the following: A1 (negative control): did not receive any treatment. A2 (positive control): the left buccal pouches (HBP) painted 3/week/12 weeks by the carcinogen DMBA + 4 weeks of follow up. B1: HBP painted with DMBA (3/week/12 weeks) + 2 doses of GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA/laser + 2 weeks of follow up. B2: the same as B1 but without exposure to laser. B3: HBP painted with DMBA (3/week/12 weeks)+ 2 doses of GNR/PLGA/FA/laser + 2 weeks of follow up, and B4: HBP painted with DMBA (3/week/12 weeks) + 2 doses of NTQ/PLGA/FA + 2 weeks of follow up. Tumor volume analysis was done to all animals at 12th and 16th weeks where the combined GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA/laser showed marked regression in tumor sizes up to complete ablation compared to other experimental groups. Histopathological findings showed marked tumor regression in group B1 with only moderate to severe dysplasia, while groups B2 and B4 showed well to moderate differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, compared to group B3 that showed
Summary
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carcinoma in situ. Blood analysis results ensured the safety of the combined drug [GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA/laser].
The current results revealed that combined chemo- and photothermal co-therapy based on GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA was superior to either chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone. Moreover, the number of NTQ doses needed to regress OSCC was reduced to two doses only in the nanocomplex GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA. Thus, the chemo-photothermal treatment based on polymersomes loaded with NTQ and GNRs was a useful and effective strategy for both maximizing the therapeutic efficacy and minimizing the dosage needed in the treatment of solid tumors.
from previous findings, the combined chemo-photothermal therapy GNR/NTQ/PLGA/FA with NIR laser, showed a promising value in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) treatment rather than single therapies.