Nanoscale Coordination Polymers for Combined Chemotherapy and Photodynamic Therapy of Metastatic Cancer

Combination therapy enhances anticancer efficacy through synergistic effects of different drugs/modalities and can potentially address the challenges in the treatment of metastatic diseases. Here we report the design of carb/pyro nanoscale coordination polymer nanoparticles that carry carboplatin (carb) in the core and the photosensitizer pyrolipid (pyro) on the shell for the treatment of metastatic triple negative breast cancer. Upon light irradiation, carb/pyro generated reactive oxygen species to cause severe cell apoptosis and early calreticulin exposure. Upon intravenous injection and local light irradiation, carb/pyro significantly regressed tumor growth in the 4T1 murine metastatic breast cancer model. When combined with an anti-CD47 antibody, carb/pyro with light irradiation completely eradicated primary and metastatic 4T1 tumors in 50% mice. The anticancer efficacy of carb/pyro was also demonstrated in the CT26 murine colorectal cancer model.