Designing intelligent nano-bomb with on-demand site-specific drug burst release to synergize with high-intensity focused ultrasound cancer ablation

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has been widely used in clinical treatment of cervical cancer for its non-invasiveness and sharp treatment margins with very low complication rates. However, how to intensify the therapeutic efficacy of HIFU by specifically focusing the ultrasound energy on targeting pathological tissues is still a bottleneck for it to realize successful cancer ablation. Herein, a multifunctional organic-inorganic hybrid nanovesicles, by coating ultrathin silica shell on the surface of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) loaded with perfluorocarbon (PFOB), hydrophobic antitumor ruthenium complex (RuPOP) and superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄, has been designed to achieve synchronous ultrasound (US)/magnetic resonance imaging (MR) dual mode imaging-guided HIFU-triggered chemotherapy. The introduction of PFOB in this nanosystem could cause phase transition and make it gasification to cause collapse of the outer ultrathin silicon shell under HIFU irradiation, which results in enhanced intensive mechanical stress during blasting and enhanced therapeutic effect. The blasting behavior of this nanosystem triggered by HIFU also induced the on-demand RuPOP burst release in tumor site, thus maximizing the inhibition on residual tumor induced by inhomogeneous HIFU ablation. Taken together, this treatment strategy could overcome the inevitable tumor recurrence and significantly reduces systemic side effects of HIFU, thus could be further developed for noninvasive cancer therapy.