Fig. 2

Photothermal therapy with a combination of pTRG and NIR laser irradiation protected the mice from the CT-26 tumor. BALB/c mice were subcutaneously (s.c.) injected with 1 × 10⁶ CT-26-iRFP cells. On the 7th day of tumor inoculation, the mice were intratumorally (i.t.) administered PBS, poly I:C, Gel, pGel, TRG, or pTRG and were then subjected to NIR laser irradiation for 5 min at a laser power density of 1.5 W/cm². A Thermographic images of surface temperature at the tumor sites (left panel). Mean temperature after NIR laser irradiation (right panel, n = 6 mice, two-way ANOVA, mean ± SEM, **p < 0.01). B CT-26 tumor masses on days 15 and 24 after tumor injection. C Tumor growth curves of CT-26 mice (n = 6 mice, significance was determined using the log-rank test, mean ± SEM **p < 0.01). D Survival rates of mice (curve comparison with the log-rank test revealing statistically significant differences, **p < 0.01, n = 5 mice per group)