Using immunoadjuvant agent glycated chitosan to enhance anti-cancer stem like cell immunity induced by HIFU

Thermal therapy is based on the observation that tumor cells are sensitive to increased temperature, which is important for tumor control. In this study, the high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system was used to simulate thermal therapy on breast cancer control in the small animal model. Additionally, the immunoadjuvant agent, so called glycated chitosan (GC), was used to enhance the immunological effects on tumor control. The bioluminescent imaging showed that tumor metastasis was apparently suppressed by a combined treatment using HIFU and GC, but not in HIFU or GC alone. Using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, lung metastasis of 4T1-3R tumor cells further agree the observations obtained from non-invasive in vivo imaging. We also found that plasma collected from mice treated with combined HIFU and GC could significantly suppress the viability of cultured 4T1 cells compared to untreated or single treated group. In summary, these results suggest that the HIFU therapy combined with GC can enhance the tumor immunogenicity and tumor control.