chemo-phototherapy of breast cancer cells by dopamine nanoparticles embeded in alginate hydrogels

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. surgery is the preferred treatment for this cancer, but the risk of local recurrence and metastasis of the remaining cells after surgery is still a significant problem. here, a series of hydrogels were fabricated using alginate-dopamine (alg-da) and polydopamine nanoparticles (pda nps), which had excellent photothermal capacity after applying nir-ii (1064 nm, 1 w/cm2) irradiations and could destroy breast cancer cells. pda nps were used in different concentrations in hydrogels to investigate their effect on cell adhesion and photothermal properties. the hydrogels showed acceptable biocompatibility and cell adhesion ability for mda-mb-231 cells (breast cancer cell line) and provided a suitable microenvironment for their growth. also, hydrogels chemo-photothermal (cp) capability was studied with the simultaneous use of docetaxel (dtx) and laser radiation. the results showed that the drug and laser had synergistic effect on in vitro eradication of cancer cells. the hydrogels’ acceptable mechanical properties make them a promissing candidate for filling the cavities caused by surgery in the breast.