Carbon-supported Fe single atom nanozymes with long-lasting ROS generation and high NIR photothermal performance for synergistic cancer therapy.

Synergistic therapy combining photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) has proven to be a highly effective strategy for cancer treatment. However, PTT heavily relies on the accumulation of therapeutic agents at the tumor site. The peroxidase (POD) activity of common catalysts can be rapidly exhausted during the accumulation process, prior to laser intervention, thereby diminishing the synergistic enhancement effect of the combined therapy. Therefore, a carbon-based nanozyme featuring single Fe atoms (Fe SAzyme) for long-term reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation is developed to address this challenge. While maintaining robust POD performance, Fe SAzyme exhibits a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 64.78 % at 808 nm. Short-term hyperthermia resulted in rapid tumor ablation, while sustained ROS generation induced persistent oxidative stress on cancer cells. Both in vitro and in vivo biological tests confirmed significant tumor growth inhibition, demonstrating the potential of Fe SAzyme as a potent agent for cancer treatment.