Enhancing Sonodynamic Therapy for Cervical Cancer Using Ultrasound-Activated BTO@PEG

Patients with advanced cervical cancer have a poor prognosis, and sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is expected to offer a new approach for improving the therapeutic outcome of cervical cancer due to its noninvasiveness and ability to penetrate deeply into tissues. In order to overcome the problems of the rapid elimination and low water solubility of organic acoustic sensitizers in SDT, DSPE-PEG₂₀₀₀-coated tetragonal-phase barium titanate nanoparticles (BTO@PEG) were employed in this study to replace the conventional nanoacoustic sensitizers. It was found that BTO@PEG could continuously generate ROS through SDT and the piezoelectric effect under ultrasound (US) stimulation, which subsequently promoted the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells and inhibited the growth of subcutaneously transplanted HeLa-derived cervical cancer tumors in nude mice. BTO@PEG showed good biocompatibility, as confirmed by cytology and animal experiments.