Injectable and responsively degradable hydrogel for personalized photothermal therapy

Near infrared-absorbing hydrogels are used for the repeated photothermal treatments of cancer. However, a long-term retention of hydrogel in the body leads to increased risk of toxicity. Here we developed an injectable and on-demand degradable hydrogel to conduct the repeated photothermal therapies (PTTs). Alginate-calcium hydrogel immobilized dendrimer-encapsulated platinum nanoparticles (DEPts) in its matrix represented excellent biocompatibility, and was degraded upon injecting chelates. Results from the in vivo studies reveal that the hydrogel/DEPts-mediated repeated PTTs suppressed tumor growth efficiently, and the hydrogel was degraded on-demand to allow renal secretion of DEPts out of the body. Furthermore, coating hydrogel/DEPts on the tumor instead of intratumoral injection could still ablate tumor efficiently. Our investigation provides a smart and safe hydrogel for photothermal cancer therapy.