Fig. 4

In vivo antitumor effect of the chemoimmunotherapy hydrogel. A Treatment schema of R837/Nab-PTX/ALG in tumor suppression experiment. 2 × 10⁶ murine hepatocellular carcinoma cells H22 in 100 µL PBS were injected subcutaneously on the lower right mammary gland of ICR mice to establish H22 tumor mouse models. B Average tumor-growth curves of ICR mice bearing H22 hepatocellular carcinoma with different treatments as indicated (n = 6). The mice were administered with R837 (50 µg) and/or Nab-PTX (100 µg) on day 6 and day 13, which were dissolved in normal saline or sodium ALG solution to a final volume of 100 µL per dose. The tumor size was measured every 2–3 days from the first day of administration until the average volume of the NS group reached 1000 mm³, which was considered to have reached the standard for euthanasia of mice. The error bars represented mean ± SEM and p-values were calculated by two-way ANOVA and Tukey post-test and correction. ns P > 0.05, ****P < 0.0001. C Tumor-growth curves of each mouse in different groups (n = 6). D Survival curves of ICR mice in different groups (n = 6). P-values were calculated by log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test, ns P > 0.05, *P = 0.0284, **P = 0.0013, ***P = 0.0006 (NS vs PTX/ALG, NS vs R837/Nab-PTX/ALG). E Average weight of different groups (n = 6). The error bars represent mean ± SEM and p-values were calculated by two-way ANOVA and Tukey post-test and correction, ns P > 0.05