X-ray nanothermometry to improve anticancer thermal therapies

Treatments based on multifunctional thermal-activated nanomaterials have emerged as a promising biomedical strategy to fight cancer [1]. Temperature increments above 42°C were shown to kill cancer cells which has led to the development of nanoparticle-mediated thermo-therapeutic strategies in the fight of oncological diseases. However, these therapeutic effects have been also observed by localized nanoparticle heating without a detectable macroscopic temperature rise [2]. The precise determination of the local temperature reached in the tumour tissue is necessary to evaluate the onset of thermal doses and quantify possible side effects on healthy tissues. In this study, we investigate the potential of X-ray absorption spectroscopy technique to determine in situ the temperature reached in gold and iron oxide-based nanoparticles under therapeutic photoactivated hyperthermia [3, 4]. Experiments were performed at the Au L3-edge in BM25 beamline at the ESRF (France). We will discuss the capabilities and limitations of the technique and explore the induced heating phenomena at the nanoscale.

[1]       A. Espinosa, J. Kolosnjaj-Tabi et al. Adv, Funct. Mater. 28, 1803660 (2018).

[2]       E. Cazares-Cortés, S. Cabana et al. Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 138, 233 (2019).

[3]       A. Espinosa, J. Reguera et al., Small, 16, 1904960 (2020).

[4]       A. Espinosa, G. R. Castro et al. Nano Lett. 21, 769 (2021).