Antioxidants and Photosensitizer Co-loaded Nanoparticles Boost Photodynamic Therapy in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

This research study investigates the potential use of antioxidants for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Conversely, antioxidants scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), which initiates cell death by PDT. Co-administration of photosensitizer and an antioxidant are used together, and the loss of ROS from using the antioxidant is offset, ultimately resulting in cell death. In this work, we have combined the antioxidants p-coumaric acid (P) and alpha-tocopherol (T) encapsulated in a polymeric nanoparticle (TPI NPs) with the photosensitizer IR 792 Perchlorate dye for photothermal treatment (PTT) and PDT. The polymeric nanoparticles were found to have a spherical form with a size of 80.4 ± 15.6 nm, as determined by SEM and TEM studies. On top of that, an in-vitro evaluation of the efficacy of the produced TPI NPs on 4T1 cancer cell lines revealed a significant rate of cell death, around 80%. This might be attributed to the generation of ROS, which induces oxidative stress and inhibits metastasis. This work shows that antioxidant medications with photosensitizers may work well together as a therapeutic combination to treat triple-negative breast cancer.