Wireless Light-Emitting Diode-Driven Functional Microneedle Devices for Skin Cancer Therapy

Photodynamic therapy, a noninvasive cancer treatment strategy, is a promising remedy for malignant skin cancers. However, treatment of skin cancer with this method requires sufficient photosensitizer molecules to permeate into cancer cells before illumination for effective activation to induce potent reactive oxygen species for eliminating cancer cells. However, transdermal drug delivery using conventional photosensitizers faces major challenges due to skin barriers, diminishing the effectiveness of drug penetration and therapeutic efficacies. To overcome these limitations, biocompatible, physiologically dissolvable, and optically activatable functional microneedle devices are applied for effective percutaneous penetration of drug molecules into solid tumors in a murine model. The proposed wireless light-emitting diode light-driven functional microneedle device that effectively induces apoptosis of cancer cells and disruption of the tumor area and can enhance in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo drug-delivery effectiveness for treating skin cancer. The design and strategy of the present functional microneedle devices can help shed light on future advanced cancer therapy.