Overcoming drug resistance microspheres combined with photothermal ablation reinforce transcatheter arterial chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma

作者：Jiheng Shan, Chengzhi Zhang, Yiming Liu, Bingtong Yue, Bin Han, Jing Li, Guodun Zheng, Kunpeng Wu, Huijuan Wu, Yiran Wang, Qingqing He, Xiaonan Shan, Zongming Li, Ping Wu, Kewei Ren, Zhen Li, Jianzhuang Ren, Linyong Du, Yanan Zhao, Xinwei Han · 发表于：Communications Materials · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s43246-025-00995-w · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis、Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics、Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery

Drug-eluting microspheres (DEMs) are key for transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but face challenges like tumor multidrug resistance (MDR) and poor post-TACE outcomes. Here we show a dual-effect microsphere (PTIMS) co-encapsulating idarubicin (IDA) and tariquidar (TQR) for simultaneous chemotherapy and MDR reversal, plus minimally invasive photothermal therapy (PTT) to boost antitumor efficacy. Physicochemical tests confirm IDA/TQR loading in PTIMS, with PTT accelerating drug release. In vitro, PTIMS-PTT strongly inhibits H22 cell proliferation, migration and invasion by downregulating membrane P-glycoprotein (P-gp), promoting apoptosis and reducing IDA efflux. In vivo, it suppresses tumor growth in murine H22 models (upregulating TNF-α, downregulating Ki67/P-gp) and inhibits progression in rabbit VX2 liver tumors via robust embolization. PTIMS offers a promising strategy to enhance TACE efficacy, with high clinical translation potential. This study reports dual-effect embolized microspheres integrated with photothermal ablation for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma via transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.