# Photothermal (plasmonic) nanoparticle ablation

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/photothermal-nanoparticles/  
OnCo record `photothermal-nanoparticles` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Gold nanoshells that accumulate in a tumour and cook it when a near-infrared laser is shone on them.

## Summary

AuroLase uses silica-gold nanoshells that convert near-infrared light into heat. Nanospectra ran focal prostate ablation studies with MRI/ultrasound fusion guidance (NCT02680535, completed; extension NCT04240639, status unknown) and a lung study that was terminated. Published prostate cohorts reported ablation of the treated zone with preserved urinary and sexual function, but the technology has never been compared with established focal therapy in a randomised trial.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: phase-2
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: frontier
- Principle: Nanoparticles tuned to absorb 800 nm light accumulate in tumour vasculature; laser illumination raises local temperature above the ablation threshold while surrounding tissue, lacking particles, is spared.
- Strengths: Focal, repeatable, organ-preserving; No ionising radiation; Rapid outpatient procedure
- Limitations: Light penetrates only a few centimetres; Delivery depends on leaky vasculature, which is unreliable in humans; No randomised efficacy data; commercial progress has stalled

## Sources

- AuroLase prostate study (NCT02680535): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02680535

## Connected records

- cancers: [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/)
- fronts: [Devices & Physical Therapies](https://onco.cc/fronts/devices/), [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- technologies: [Focused ultrasound & histotripsy](https://onco.cc/technologies/hifu-histotripsy/), [Optical & fluorescence imaging](https://onco.cc/technologies/optical-imaging/), [Thermal ablation (RFA, microwave, cryo)](https://onco.cc/technologies/thermal-ablation/)
- roadmaps: [Devices and physical therapies roadmap: heat and light → electric fields and focused sound → drug-releasing implants](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/devices-roadmap/), [Radical oncology: what could change the war by 2035](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/frontier-2035/)

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