Nanosonosensitization by Using Copper–Cysteamine Nanoparticles Augmented Sonodynamic Cancer Treatment

Abstract Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), as a newly emerging and promising modality for cancer treatment, has been extensively investigated but with limited therapeutic outcome because of the absence of highly efficient sonosensitizer. Copper–cysteamine (Cu–Cy), as a new sensitizer, has been reported for oxidative therapy which can be activated with light, X‐ray, or microwave. Herein, for the first time, Cu–Cy nanoparticles are reported as new sonosensitizers for SDT on breast cancer treatment. Upon exposure of Cu–Cy nanoparticles to ultrasound, a large quantity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated for cancer cell destruction with a high SDT efficiency to induce cell apoptosis and necrosis as observed in vitro. In vivo animal studies show a significant inhibition of tumor growth for the xenografts of 4T1 cancer cells with the combination of 0.75 mg kg⁻¹ Cu–Cy and ultrasound. Overall, the preliminary results show that Cu–Cy nanoparticles can significantly augment the levels of ROS induced by ultrasound, demonstrating Cu–Cy is a new kind of efficient sonosensitzers for SDT applications. Such therapeutic platform by integrating a noninvasive, highly safe, deep‐penetration ultrasound modality. and quickly developed versatile nanosensitizers for tumor eradication will facilitate SDT future clinical translation.