Preparation of injectable temperature-sensitive chitosan-based hydrogel for combined hyperthermia and chemotherapy of colon cancer

Abstract The purpose of this study was to design an injectable hydrogel with temperature-sensitive property for safe and high efficient in vivo tumor hyperthermia and chemotherapy. Chitosan (CS) solution can be injected into the tumor at room temperature and automatically gelled after warming to body temperature in the present of β-glycerophosphate (β-GP). Combined localized tumor photothermal and chemotherapy were achieved by dissolving photothermal material MoS 2 /Bi 2 S 3 -PEG (MBP) nanosheets and drug molecule doxorubicin (DOX) into the hydrogel, and the gel system can encapsulate DOX and MBP nanosheets and prevent them from entering the blood circulation and damaging normal tissues and cells. More importantly, the CS/MBP/DOX (CMD) hydrogel exhibited a photothermal efficiency of 22.18% and 31.42% in the first and second near infrared light (NIR I and NIR II) biowindows respectively at a low MBP concentration (0.5 mg/mL). Besides, the release of the DOX from CMD hydrogel was controllable since the gel temperature can be governed by NIR laser irradiation. Moreover, the chitosan-based hydrogel has antibacterial effects. The designed composite hydrogel is anticipated to act as a platform for the high efficient treatment of tumors owing to the different penetration depths of NIR I and NIR II.