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Embolization is often used to block blood supply for controlling the growth of fibroids and malignant tumors, but limited by embolic agents lacking spontaneous targeting and post-treatment removal. So we first adopted nonionic poly(acrylamide- co -acrylonitrile) with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) to build up self-localizing microcages by inverse emulsification. The results showed that these UCST-type microcages behaved with the appropriate phase-transition threshold value around 40 °C, and spontaneously underwent an expansion-fusion-fission cycle under the stimulus of mild temperature hyperthermia. Given the simultaneous local release of cargoes, this simple but smart microcage is expected to act as a multifunctional embolic agent for tumorous starving therapy, tumor chemotherapy, and imaging.

Inorganic nanoparticles (INPs) have been paid great attention in the field of oncology in recent past years since they have enormous potential in drug delivery, gene delivery, photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), bio-imaging, driven motion, etc. To overcome the innate limitations of the conventional INPs, such as fast elimination by the immune system, low accumulation in tumor sites, and severe toxicity to the organism, great efforts have recently been made to modify naked INPs, facilitating their clinical application. Taking inspiration from nature, considerable researchers have exploited cell membrane-camouflaged INPs (CMCINPs) by coating various cell membranes onto INPs. CMCINPs naturally inherit the surface adhesive molecules, receptors, and functional proteins from the original cell membrane, making them versatile as the natural cells. In order to give a timely and representative review on this rapidly developing research subject, we highlighted recent advances in CMCINPs with superior unique merits of various INPs and natural cell membranes for cancer therapy applications. The opportunity and obstacles of CMCINPs for clinical translation were also discussed. The review is expected to assist researchers in better eliciting the effect of CMCINPs for the management of tumors and may catalyze breakthroughs in this area., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Smart hydrogels responsive to minimally invasive near-infrared (NIR) light have great potential in localized drug delivery for cancer treatment, but they still show some limitations such as low photothermal conversion, poor photothermal stability, and improper temperature range in biomedical applications. In this paper, the two-dimensional MXene nanosheets with high photothermal conversion efficiency as well as photothermal stability was firstly prepared, then the MXene nanosheets and the therapeutic drug were embedded in the low-melting-point agarose hydrogel network to fabricate the drug-loaded MXene/agarose hydrogel (MXene@Hydrogel). With the addition of low concentration of MXene (20 ppm), the MXene@Hydrogel could quickly rise to 60 °C under NIR irradiation and melt to release the encapsulated drugs. Importantly, the drug on/off release and the kinetics could be easily controlled with varied agarose concentration, MXene concentration, light intensity, and exposure time. In addition, the drug doxorubicin retained the anticancer activity after released from the MXene@Hydrogel network under NIR irradiation. With the excellent biocompatibility, the newly fabricated NIR-responsive MXene@Hydrogel offers a novel way for the development of smart hydrogel-based drug delivery system for localized cancer treatment., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Temperature monitoring is extremely important during thermotherapy. Fiber-optic temperature sensors are preferred because of their flexibility and immunity to electromagnetic interference. Although many types of fiber-optic sensors have been developed, clinically adopting them remains challenging. Here, we report a silica fiber-based radiometric thermometer using a low-cost extended InGaAs detector to detect black body radiation between 1.7 and 2.4 μm. For the first time, this silica fiber-based thermometer is capable of measuring temperatures down to 35°C, making it suitable for monitoring hyperthermia during surgery. In particular, the thermometer has potential for seamless integration with current silica fiber catheters, which are widely used in laser interstitial thermotherapy. The feasibility, capability and sensitivity of tracking tissue temperature variation were proved through ex vivo tissue studies. After further improvement, the technology has the potential to be translated into clinics for monitoring tissue temperature., (© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)