Combination of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy using graphene oxide as drug delivery system

• Combination therapy of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy was evaluated.
• Hypocrellin A and 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin were co-loaded on graphene oxide.
• The complex was formed through noncovalent π–π stacking and hydrogen bond.
• Combination therapy exhibited a synergistic anticancer effect to cancer cell.

Previous research indicated that graphene oxide (GO) can be used to deliver photosensitive anticancer drug, Hypocrellin A (HA), in photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, the anticancer activity of HA was obviously decreased after been loaded on GO. To solve this problem, a chemotherapy drug, 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), was co-loaded on the HA loaded GO (HA/SN-38/GO) as a multimodal carrier for the synergistic combination of PDT and chemotherapy for cancer. In vitro results showed that the combination therapy exhibited a synergistic antiproliferative effect compared with PDT and chemotherapy alone. Therefore, HA/SN-38/GO delivery system has the potential to offer dual therapies for the synergistic combination of PDT and chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer.

Graphene oxide was exploited as a multimodal carrier of photosensitizers and chemotherapeutics for the synergistic combination therapy to cancer.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide