Near-infrared photothermal therapy using anti-EGFR-gold nanorod conjugates for triple negative breast cancer

// Meihua Zhang 1, 2, 3, * , Hoe Suk Kim 1, * , Tiefeng Jin 1, 4 , Jisu Woo 1 , Yin Ji Piao 1, 2 and Woo Kyung Moon 1, 2 1 Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea 2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-799, Korea 3 Department of Radiology, Yanbian University Hospital, JiLin Province 133000, China 4 Department of Pathology and Cancer Research Center, Yanbian University Medical College, Yanji 133002, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Woo Kyung Moon, email: moonwk@snu.ac.kr Keywords: near-infrared photothermal therapy, photoacoustic imaging, breast cancer, gold nanorod, epidermal growth factor receptor Received: May 14, 2017      Accepted: August 17, 2017      Published: September 23, 2017 ABSTRACT Current EGFR-targeted therapy for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has produced disappointing results. A rational therapeutic strategy to improve EGFR-targeted treatment for TNBC is therefore needed. In this study we evaluated the feasibility of treating TNBC using photoacoustic imaging (PAI)-guided near-infrared photothermal therapy (NIR-PTT) with anti-EGFR-conjugated gold nanorods (anti-EGFR-GN). NIR-PTT combined with anti-EGFR-GN exerted synergistic anti-proliferative and apoptotic actions through upregulation of HSP70 and cleaved caspase-3, downregulation of Ki-67 and EGFR, and inhibition of several intracellular signaling molecules (mTOR, AKT, ERK1/2 and FAK). These combined effects give this approach significant efficacy. Our findings suggest PAI-guided NIR-PTT using anti-EGFR-GN represent a novel and effective strategy for EGFR-targeted therapy in TNBC.