Multifunctional Gold Nanostars for Sensitive Detection, Photothermal Treatment and Immunotherapy of Brain Tumor

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common type of brain cancer, is a severe threat to human health with only 15 months of median survival even after aggressive treatment including surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. There is an urgent need to develop novel methods to improve brain cancer management. We have developed multifunctional gold nanostars (GNS) as a novel nanoplatform for sensitive brain cancer imaging and specific photoimmunotherapy. The developed GNS nanoprobe has demonstrated the feasibility of non-invasive submillimeter brain tumor detection with PET/CT scan. Furthermore, the developed GNS nanoprobe, with superior tip-enhanced plasmonics for effective photothermal therapy, has been found to successfully trigger memorized anti-cancer immune response, “Cancer Vaccine” effect, to prevent cancer recurrence. Therefore, the biocompatible GNS nanoparticles have the promise for future clinical translation to improve brain cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.