Polydopamine-Coated Radiolabeled Microspheres for Combinatorial Radioembolization and Photothermal Cancer Therapy.

Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is a local radionuclide therapy and is successfully used in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment. Radioactive microspheres have been widely studied for TARE. Preparation of ideal radioactive microspheres is significant for clinical research and patient treatment. In this study, we have designed a novel multifunctional microsphere, i.e., polydopamine (PDA)-coated Lu-radiolabeled silica microspheres (MS) denoted as Lu-MS@PDA, which can be used for TARE and photothermal therapy (PTT). The radiostability of Lu-MS@PDA was significantly improved by coating Lu-MS with PDA. In addition, the coating of PDA makes microspheres have excellent photothermal performance. MicroSPECT/CT images showed that Lu-MS@PDA was accurately embolized and remained in the tumor during the observation time. At the time, it also showed that Lu-MS@PDA was very stable in vivo. Furthermore, the anti-tumor results demonstrated that TARE combined with PTT of Lu-MS@PDA can significantly inhibit tumor growth without obvious side effects. Lu-MS@PDA holds great potential as a promising radioactive microsphere for HCC.