Nanoengineering of nanorattles for tumor treatment by CT imaging-guided simultaneous enhanced microwave thermal therapy and managing inflammation

Usually the tumor thermal therapy is accompanied with inflammatory reactions, which in turn promote tumor growth and metastasis meanwhile. Herein, we prepared novel trifunctional PEG-IL/ZrO2-Ag@SiO2 nanorattles, which can be used for CT imaging-guided simultaneous tumor microwave thermal therapy and resistance to bacterial infection. Under the microwave irradiation, the nanorattles present excellent microwave thermal properties. Simultaneously, the nanorattles have good antibacterial effect in vitro and in vivo, which can restrain bacterial growth effectively and reduce inflammation response during the microwave thermal therapy. In addition, the nanorattles also have the function of CT imaging, which can monitor the tumor therapy in real time. The strategy of simultaneous microwave thermal therapy and inflammation management effectively inhibits tumor growth in mice with a good anti-tumor effect (96.4%). This proof-of-concept investigation provides a simple and reliable strategy for tumor treatment and inhibiting inflammatory reaction using a multifunctional nanomaterial, indicating the great application prospect in tumor treatment by simultaneous eradicating tumor tissue and managing inflammation.