# Targeting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Special Focus on Phototherapy and Nanomaterials

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how combining photothermal therapy with gold nanoparticles could offer new treatment options for aggressive triple-negative breast cancer.

## Contribution

The paper highlights the novel use of gold nanoparticles to enhance photothermal therapy for treating triple-negative breast cancer.

## Key findings

- Photothermal therapy using gold nanoparticles can induce localized hyperthermia and disrupt cancer cell homeostasis.
- Combining photothermal therapy with nanotechnology shows promise for improving outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer.
- Gold nanoparticles act as efficient photothermal agents, triggering apoptosis and necrosis in malignant tissues.

## Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer lacking estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. This characteristic limits the effectiveness of hormonal and targeted therapies, and despite advances in chemotherapy (ChT), radiotherapy (RT), surgery, targeted therapy (TT) and immunotherapy (IT), clinical outcomes remain poor, highlighting an urgent need for new therapeutic strategies. The development of advanced nanotechnology-based strategies has opened new avenues for the diagnosis and therapy of TNBC. This review focuses on photothermal therapy (PTT) combined with nanotechnology-based strategies. PTT constitutes an emerging modality for oncological treatment that leverages light irradiation, mostly in the near-infrared (NIR) spectral region, to induce the localized thermal ablation of malignant tissues. When combined with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), PTT is significantly potentiated. AuNPs have distinctive optical and physicochemical characteristics, rendering them highly effective as multifunctional nanoplatforms. Upon irradiation, AuNPs act as efficient photothermal agents, inducing localized hyperthermia. This thermal effect disrupts cellular homeostasis and initiates a cascade of cell death pathways, including apoptosis and necrosis, culminating in tumor regression. This review describes the latest therapeutic advances of PTT and AuNPs. As this innovative approach progresses toward clinical application, future studies and trials will be crucial in determining its potential for TNBC management and improving patient outcomes.