The combination of radiotherapy (RT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) has been considered an attractive strategy in cervical cancer treatment. However, it remains a challenge to simultaneously enhance the radio-sensitivity of tumor tissue, develop tumor tissue-focused radiation therapies and combine dual therapeutic modalities. In this study, core-shell type magnetic gold (Fe₃O₄@Au) nanoparticles are exploited to achieve the synergistic efficacy of radio-photothermal therapy in cervical cancer. Fe₃O₄@Au nanoparticles (NPs) with uniform morphology exhibited superior surface plasmon resonance properties, excellent superparamagnetic properties, good biocompatibility and high photothermal conversion efficiency. For the in vitro tests, a low concentration of Fe₃O₄@Au NPs after a short period of near-infrared irradiation lead to the time-dependent death of cervical cancer cells. Further, the combination of RT and PTT induced synergistic anti-cancer effects in vitro. More importantly, an external magnetic field could significantly enhance the synergistic efficacy of Fe₃O₄@Au NPs by improving their internalization. Hence, the reported Fe₃O₄@Au NPs have the potential to be good nanoagents with excellent magnetic targeting ability for cervical cancer radio-photothermal treatment.
Keywords: cervical cancer; magnetic field; magnetic gold nanoparticles; radio-photothermal therapy; synergetic.