Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40041949›Full record

ArticleACS biomaterials science & engineering2025

Oxygen-Releasing Nanodroplets Relieve Intratumoral Hypoxia and Potentiate Photodynamic Therapy in 3D Head and Neck Cancer Spheroids.

Marvin Xavierselvan, Ronak Tarun Shethia, Brooke Bednarke, Vicky Yang, Leah Moses, Satya Siva Kishan Yalamarty, Jason Cook, Srivalleesha Mallidi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in ACS biomaterials science & engineering, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Marvin XavierselvanDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155-5801, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-8361-7318
Ronak Tarun ShethiaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155-5801, United States.
Brooke BednarkeDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155-5801, United States.
Vicky YangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155-5801, United States.
Leah MosesDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155-5801, United States.
Satya Siva Kishan YalamartyDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155-5801, United States.
Jason CookNanoHybrids, Inc., Acton, Massachusetts 01720, United States.
Srivalleesha MallidiDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155-5801, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-1547-1764

Funding

Image-guided oxygen enhanced photodynamic therapy with multi-functional nanodroplets to improve head and neck cancer treatment outcomesR01CA266701 · NCI · TUFTS UNIVERSITY MEDFORD · PI Srivalleesha Mallidi · 2022 to 2026
$1.7M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA266701
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hypoxia in solid tumors, including head and neck cancer (HNC), contributes to treatment resistance, aggressive tumor phenotypes, and poorer clinical outcomes. Perfluorocarbon nanodroplets have emerged as promising drugs to alleviate tumor hypoxia. These versatile nanocarriers can also encapsulate and deliver various therapeutic agents, offering a multifunctional approach to cancer treatment. However, a detailed characterization of hypoxia alleviation, particularly the duration of hypoxia treatment drug residence, has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we developed and characterized perfluoropentane nanodroplets (PFP NDs) for the codelivery of oxygen and the photoactivatable drug benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD) to hypoxic HNC spheroids. The PFP NDs exhibited excellent stability, efficient oxygen loading/release, and biocompatibility. Using 3D multicellular tumor spheroids of FaDu and SCC9 HNC cells, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of hypoxia within these spheroids and the ability of oxygenated PFP NDs to alleviate hypoxia. Our results showed that oxygen-loaded PFP NDs effectively penetrated the core of tumor spheroids, significantly reducing hypoxia, as evidenced by the downregulation of hypoxia-inducible factors HIF-1α and HIF-2α. Importantly, we demonstrated sustained hypoxia alleviation for up to 3 h post-treatment with PFP NDs. BPD-loaded PFP NDs successfully delivered the photosensitizer into the spheroid core in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, we evaluated the efficacy of oxygen-dependent treatment modality, namely, photodynamic therapy (PDT) with BPD and oxygen-loaded PFP NDs compared to free BPD. The NDs formulation exhibited superior PDT outcomes, which were attributed to improved oxygen availability during the treatment. This study provides comprehensive evidence for the potential of PFP NDs as a codelivery platform to overcome hypoxia-mediated treatment resistance and enhance PDT efficacy in HNC. Our findings pave the way for further investigation of this promising approach in more complex

Indexed as

Head and Neck NeoplasmsNanoparticlesOxygenPhotochemotherapyPhotosensitizing AgentsSpheroids, CellularCell Line, TumorFluorocarbonsHumansPentanesTumor HypoxiaFluorocarbonsOxygenPentanesperfluoropentanePhotosensitizing Agentsdrug deliveryhypoxiahypoxia alleviationoxygen deliveryoxygen-enhanced PDTPDTphotodynamic therapytumor spheroids

Identifiers

PMID40041949
PMCPMC12002064

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.