Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Intra-arterial Delivery of Doxorubicin-loaded Hollow Gold Nanospheres for Photothermal Ablation-Chemoembolization Therapy in Rats.

The findings of this study suggest that pretreatment of hepatocellular carcinomas with combretastatin A-4 phosphate disodium improves tumor uptake and retention of doxorubicin-loaded, polyethylene glycol–coated hollow gold nanospheres mixed with ethiodized oil and thus enhances antitumor efficacy of photothermal ablation–chemoembolization therapy, allowing micro-PET/CT imaging and quantification.