In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of PEGylated Starch-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photothermal Cancer Therapy

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) possess versatile utility in cancer theranostics, thus, they have drawn enormous interest in the cancer research field. Herein, we prepared polyethylene glycol (PEG)-conjugated and starch-coated IONPs (“PEG–starch–IONPs”), and assessed their applicability for photothermal treatment (PTT) of cancer. The prepared PEG–starch–IONPs were investigated for their physical properties by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The pharmacokinetic study results showed a significant extension in the plasma half-life by PEGylation, which led to a markedly increased (5.7-fold) tumor accumulation. When PEG–starch–IONPs were evaluated for their photothermal activity, notably, they displayed marked and reproducible heating effects selectively on the tumor site with laser irradiation. Lastly, efficacy studies demonstrated that PEG–starch–IONPs-based PTT may be a promising mode of cancer therapy.