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We report on a pilot study showing a proof of concept for the passive delivery of nanoshells to an orthotopic tumor where they induce a local, confined therapeutic response distinct from that of normal brain resulting in the photothermal ablation of canine transmissible venereal tumor (cTVT) in a canine brain model. cTVT fragments grown in severe combined immunodeficient mice were successfully inoculated in the parietal lobe of immunosuppressed, mixed-breed hound dogs. A single dose of near-IR (NIR)-absorbing, 150-nm nanoshells was infused i.v. and allowed time to passively accumulate in the intracranial tumors, which served as a proxy for an orthotopic brain metastasis. The nanoshells accumulated within the intracranial cTVT, suggesting that its neovasculature represented an interruption of the normal blood-brain barrier.

Gold nanoshells (dielectric silica core/gold shell) are a novel class of hybrid metal nanoparticles whose unique optical properties have spawned new applications including more sensitive molecular assays and cancer therapy. We report a new photo-physical property of nanoshells (NS) whereby these particles glow brightly when excited by near-infrared light. We characterized the luminescence brightness of NS, comparing to that of gold nanorods (NR) and fluorescent beads (FB). We find that NS are as bright as NR and 140 times brighter than FB. To demonstrate the potential application of this bright two-photon-induced photoluminescence (TPIP) signal for biological imaging, we imaged the 3D distribution of gold nanoshells targeted to murine tumors.

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