The paper “Towards a Less Invasive Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer: Initial Evaluation of Gold Nanoparticle-Mediated Photothermal Therapy” was recently published in the journal Pharmaceutics.
This work, developed by PhD student Mariana Amaral, was carried out under the supervision of IBEB’s full members João Coelho, and Hugo Ferreira, in collaboration with Catarina Reis and Manuela Gaspar from Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL).
This study aimed to synthesize and characterize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), evaluate their safety without laser activation, and assess their efficacy with laser activation. Their physicochemical and photostability over three months and sterility were confirmed. In vitro safety was tested using human non-cancerous and head and neck cancer (HNC) cell lines, while in vivo biocompatibility was evaluated in the hen’s egg chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model, with no adverse effects observed. Upon laser activation, AuNPs reduced HNC cell viability by 50–70%, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) lines. In vivo biodistribution studies showed that AuNPs remained at the injection site for up to one month without toxicity. Overall, the developed AuNP formulation demonstrates stability, biocompatibility, and prolonged local retention, key attributes for effective and targeted PTT. These findings support the potential of AuNP-mediated photothermal therapy as a promising treatment modality for HNC, although further preclinical and clinical studies are needed to optimize treatment parameters.
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