Figure 4.

(a) Photographs of subcutaneous tumors on the backs of eight groups of representative nude mice at POD49. (b) After approximately 4 weeks, the tumor volume reached its maximum, after which point AuNPs and cetuximab were injected into the tumors. On the next day, tumors were irradiated and then monitored for 3 weeks. The tumor volume continued to increase in the control and AuNPs groups, whereas tumor shrinkage was noted in the other groups. The greatest tumor shrinkage was observed in the AuNPs + cetuximab + radiotherapy group. (c) Body weight tended to increase in all individuals, and no significant difference was observed among the groups. AuNPs, gold nanoparticles; RT, radiotherapy; POD, postoperative day. * (Asterisk marks) indicate statistically significant differences.