Temperature-Regulating Phase Change Fiber Scaffold Toward Mild Photothermal–Chemotherapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a treatment that increases the temperature of tumors to 42–48 °C, or even higher for tumor ablation. PTT has sparked a lot of attention due to its ability to induce apoptosis or increase sensitivity to chemotherapy. Excessive heat not only kills the tumor cells, but also damages the surrounding healthy tissue, reducing therapeutic accuracy and increasing the possible side effects. Herein, a phase change fiber (PCF) scaffold serving as a thermal trigger in mild photothermal–chemo tumor therapy is developed to regulate temperature and control drug release. These prepared PCFs, comprised of hollow carbon fibers (HCFs) loaded with lauric acid as a phase change material (PCM), can effectively store and release any excess heat generated by irradiating with a near-infrared (NIR) laser through the reversible solid–liquid transition process of the PCM. With this feature, the optimal PTT temperature of implanted PCF-based composite scaffolds was identified for tumor therapy with minimal normal tissue damage. In addition, controlled release of chemotherapeutic drugs and heat shock protein (HSP) inhibitors from the PCF-based composite scaffolds have been shown to improve the efficacy of mild PTT. The developed PCF-based scaffold sheds light on the development of a new generation of therapeutic scaffolds for thermal therapy.Graphical Abstract