Metastasis and spread are currently the main factors leading to high mortality of
cancer, so developing a synergetic antitumor strategy with high specificity and hypotoxicity is in urgent demand. Based on the design concept of "nanocatalytic medicine", multifunctional nanotherapeutic agent FePt@COP-FA nanocomposites (FPCF NCs) are developed for
cancer treatment. Specifically, in the tumor microenvironment (TME), FePt could catalyze intracellular over-expressed H2O2 to generate highly active
hydroxyl radicals (˙OH), which could not only induce the apoptosis of
tumor cells, but also activate the "ferroptosis" pathway resulting in the
lipid peroxide accumulation and ferroptotic cell death. Moreover, owing to the excellent photothermal effect, the FPCF NCs could effectively ablate primary
tumors under near-infrared (NIR)
laser irradiation and produce numerous
tumor-associated
antigens in situ. With the assistance of a checkpoint blockade inhibitor, anti-CTLA4 antibody, the body's specific immune response would be initiated to inhibit the growth of metastatic
tumors. In particular, such synergistic
therapeutics could produce an effective immunological memory effect, which could prevent
tumor metastasis and recurrence again. In summary, the FPCF NC is an effective multifunctional antitumor therapeutic agent for nanocatalytic/photothermal/checkpoint blockade combination
therapy, which exhibits great potential in nanocatalytic anticancer therapeutic applications.