Immunoadjuvants in treatment of metastatic breast tumors using selective laser photothermal interaction

A novel immunoadjuvant, glycated chitosan, has been used in combinations with a near-infrared laser and a laser- absorbing dye to treat metastatic tumors in rats. The laser-dye combination provides selective photothermal tumor destruction. The addition of the in situ immunoadjuvant works in tandem with the photothermal interaction to induce a host antitumor immunity. Our previous experiments have shown the efficacy of this novel modality against a metastatic breast cancer in rat model, using the three components. The current study is to investigate the roles of different components, namely, the laser, the dye and the immunoadjuvant. Firs, the selective photothermal laser- tissue interactions are studied in vivo using rat leg muscles and rat tumors. Our results showed that with appropriate combination of laser parameter and dye does, an optimal selective photothermal tissue interaction could be achieved. The immune response is crucial in control of tumor metastasis and the immunoadjuvant has played pivotal role in the induction of the immunity in our experiment. Therefore, the role of immunoadjuvants in the laser cancer treatment is also investigated in the current study. Specifically, three different concentrations of glycated chitosan solutions - 0.5%, 1% and 2% - were used. In comparison, the 1% solution provided the best treatment outcome. Two additional immunoadjuvants, incomplete Freund's adjuvant and complete Freund's adjuvant were also used in the same laser-dye-adjuvant treatment protocol. The functions of different adjuvants are compared.