Target-oriented anticancer treatment using photothermal effect

The photothermal effect is a phenomenon in which when light energy is irradiated to a material, it is converted into thermal energy. Using this, a new anti-cancer treatment technique called photothermal therapy is being studied in the medical field. Photothermal therapy, a treatment technique that removes tumors through temperature rise by irradiating laser represented by light energy to tumor sites, has the advantage of being less bleeding and faster resilience than conventional treatment techniques through incisions. In general, photothermal therapy uses a laser in the near-infrared region, and a light absorption enhancer is used to increase the low light absorption coefficient of biological tissues in the near-infrared region.

 In our laboratory, the effect of photothermal therapy for various conditions of lasers and light absorption enhancers was analyzed based on the heat transfer theory. Four apoptotic variables were presented to confirm the effect of photothermal therapy on tumors occurring in various locations and to quantitatively suggest the therapeutic effect of treatment. Through this, it is expected to be used as a standard for photothermal therapy in the future.