A potentially valuable nano graphene oxide/USPIO tumor diagnosis and treatment system

Highlights: • An integrated diagnosis and treatment system based on NGO/USPIO was established. • Nano graphene oxide (NGO) for chemo-photothermal anti-tumor therapy. • USPIO for diagnosing the tumor and confirming the carrier at the tumor site. Due to increased requirements for precision cancer treatment, cancer chemotherapy and combination therapies have gradually developed in the direction of diagnosis and treatment integration. In this study, a non-toxic nano carrier that demonstrates integrated MRI signal enhancing performance, as well as better chemotherapy and photothermal conversion performance, was prepared and characterized. Furthermore, the carrier was used to construct an integrated system of tumor diagnosis and treatment. Our in vitro studies showed that this system has a considerable inhibition effect on tumor cells during the treatment of chemotherapy when combined with PTT, and in vivo studies showed that the system could improve the MRI signal of the tumor site with application of a safe dosage. Thus, this system based on NGO/USPIO has the potential to be a multi-functional nano drug delivery system integrating diagnosis and treatment benefits and applications that are worthy of further research.