中科院理化所纳米材料可控制备与应用研究组在唐芳琼研究员的带领下在恶性肿瘤治疗研究方面取得新进展，相关研究工作已经发表在《纳米技术》（Nanotechnology (2008，19，455101)）上。审稿人评价该工作为“nicely designed and well performed”，并建议优先发表。文章发表后，编辑很快来信说明该文章已被多次下载，位列当期Institute of Physics系统杂志“top 10%”文章。

恶性肿瘤已经成为人类第二大致死疾病，每年全世界约有700万人死于癌症。目前癌症临床治疗主要是通过手术、放疗、化疗等方法。手术虽可快速切除原发病灶，但其创伤面大，风险大，且不适于难切除部位的肿瘤。放疗可在早期快速杀伤肿瘤细胞，但其放射线无选择性，易损伤正常细胞。化疗药物在杀死肿瘤细胞的同时，对人体正常细胞也有相当程度的毒副作用。如何降低治疗技术对身体机能的不可逆损伤，提高癌症治愈率，改善患者生存质量是癌症治疗过程中亟待解决的问题。针对该难题，唐芳琼组设计研发了一种有机无机复合智能结构、具备特殊性能的新型纳米材料——金壳包覆聚苯乙烯纳米颗粒。该材料具有高吸收截面，高光热转化效率。经过静脉注射后，金壳如同装配了肿瘤制导系统，能够自动搜寻并富集在肿瘤部位。这种“金壳”经近红外光照射后，通过吸收近红外激光能量，能迅速升温“热死”肿瘤细胞。他们的研究团队还与生物物理所梁伟研究室合作，通过动物实验考察这种光热疗法的效果，结果表明对肺癌的抑瘤率高达55%。这种神奇的“纳米金壳”，为癌症治疗领域带来了新的希望和生机。

目前，该研究组正在研发另一种新型多功能纳米金壳复合材料，已初见成效，该材料能够集光热疗、化疗、靶向、缓控释“四位于一体”，高效杀死肿瘤细胞。

这项工作得到科技部863计划支持。

推荐原始出处：

Nanotechnology，2008，19，455101，Huiyu Liu，Fangqiong Tang

Photothermal therapy of Lewis lung carcinoma in mice using gold nanoshells on carboxylated polystyrene spheres

Huiyu Liu1, Dong Chen1,2, Fangqiong Tang1, Gangjun Du3, Linlin Li1, Xianwei Meng1, Wei Liang3, Yangde Zhang4, Xu Teng5 and Yi Li1,2

1 Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
2 Institute of Textiles and Clothing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
3 Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
4 National Hepatobiliary and Enteric Surgery Research Center, Ministry of Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, People's Republic of China
5 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, People's Republic of China

Abstract. A new approach towards the design of gold nanoshells on carboxylated polystyrene spheres (GNCPSs) is reported here. Gold nanoshells were self-assembled on the surface of carboxylated polystyrene spheres by a seed growth method. Chitosan (CHI) was used as a functional agent of carboxylated polystyrene spheres for attaching gold seeds. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak of GNCPSs can be tuned, greatly redshifted, over a broad spectral range including the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region, which provides maximal penetration of light through tissue. Irradiation of GNCPSs at their peak extinction coefficient results in the conversion of light to heat energy that produces a local rise in temperature. Our study revealed that the Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) in mice treated with GNCPSs exposed to a low dose of NIR light (808 nm, 4 W cm?2) induced irreversible tissue damage. The tumor volumes of the treatment group by GNCPSs were significantly lower than those of control groups, with an average inhibition rate over 55% (P<0.005). This study proves that GNCPSs are promising in plasmonic photothermal tumor therapy.