Microspheres-mediated magnetic thermal ablation combined with immune checkpoint blockade therapy for liver cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are some of the most difficult malignant tumors to treat, due to their high rates of metastasis and recurrence. Image-guided percutaneous ablation, which serves as an important means in HCC treatment. However, drawbacks such as puncture injury, metastasis, and a limited ablation range still exist. Therefore, A highly effective and non-invasive magnetic thermal ablation (MTA) scheme for HCC was proposed by precisely embolizing magnetic microspheres into tumor-feeding arteries. In this study, polyacrylamide (PAM) and ferric oxide (Fe3O4) were utilized to prepare uniformly sized PAM@Fe3O4 microspheres with excellent eddy current heating effects. Additionally, a combined approach of MTA and immunotherapy was suggested. MTA combined with immune checkpoint blockade therapy efficiently ablated primary tumors and inhibited simulated metastatic tumors in mice. Further arterial embolization experiments in rabbit ears and renal arteries demonstrated the effective retention of PAM@Fe3O4 microspheres in blood vessels for MTA. Finally, we successfully applied PAM@Fe3O4 microspheres for efficient MTA therapy in a rabbit VX2 in situ liver tumor model. The aim of research is to provide new strategies for clinical HCC treatment, promoting the transition from image-guided percutaneous minimally invasive ablation to noninvasive ablation. This significant transition holds the potential for clinical applicability.