We report the in vitro cell test and in vivo animal test results of titanium oxide nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) as a potential therapeutic agent used for cancer thermotherapy in combination with near-infrared (NIR) laser. The in vitro cell test results show that both the cells exposed to NIR laser without TiO2 NTs treatment and the cells treated with TiO2 NTs but not with NIR irradiation had cell viabilities higher than 96%. Combination of these two techniques, however, shows cell viability less than 1%. The cell death rate strongly depended on the concentration of TiO2 NTs. Also, the cell deaths were mostly due to necrosis but partly due to late apoptosis. The in vivo animal test results show that tumor cells can be completely destroyed without nearly giving damage to surrounding healthy cells by an injection of an adequate amount of TiO2 NTs/NaCl suspension and a subsequent single continuous laser treatment at a moderately low laser illumina-tion intensity for the exposure time optimized for the tumor size. These results suggest that TiO2 NTs can be effectively utilized as a therapeutic agent for cancer thermotherapy due to their excellent photothermal property and high bio-compatibility.
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