The chemotherapy technique that uses magnetic nanoparticles to heat cancer cells above 104 ° F while releasing drugs is the third most effective, the study shows.
- Cancer cells are vulnerable to heat and can be targeted with magnetic particles
- They attach to tumor cells and a magnetic field causes them to heat up
- This increases their sensitivity to chemo-transported nanoparticle drugs
Chemotherapy could be up to 34% more effective thanks to a new technique that combines treatment with magnetic particles that fry cancer cells.
Researchers at University College London have found that the combination of heat and chemo drugs makes the process more efficient.
The small magnetic nanoparticles attach to the cancer cells of a tumor and also carry the drug for chemotherapy.
When doctors apply a harmless magnetic field to the area outside the body, it activates the magnetic properties of the nanoparticles and causes them to heat up, heating the trapped cancer cells.
Research shows that this damages the tumor and makes it more vulnerable to pre-existing drugs.
Chemotherapy is up to 34% more effective thanks to a new technique that combines treatment with magnetic particles that boil cancer cells (stock photo)
The research has so far only been tested in a laboratory, but researchers say the first findings are significant.
Human breast cancer cells, glioblastoma cells (brain cancer) and mouse prostate cancer cells were all treated, in a test tube, with this new technique.
Doxorubicin – a commonly used chemo drug – has been applied to magnetic nanoparticles.
The small magnetic nanoparticles carry the drug for chemotherapy and also attach to the cancer cells of a tumor. When doctors apply a harmless magnetic field to the area outside the body, the nanoparticles begin to heat up, warming the cancer cells.
The results, which were evaluated by colleagues and published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry B, show promising results for the experimental method.
Heat and doxorubicin together killed 98% of brain cancer cells after 48 hours. The drug killed only 73% of the cells when applied without heat.
For breast cancer cells, 89% of the cancer was eliminated by combination, and this drops to just 77% for the drug alone.
Professor Nguyen TK Thanh said: “Our study shows the enormous potential of combining chemotherapy with heat treatment administered through magnetic nanoparticles.
“While this combination therapy is already approved for the treatment of fast-growing glioblastomas, our results suggest that it has the potential to be widely used as anti-cancer therapy.
“This therapy also has the potential to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, ensuring that it is better targeted to cancer cells than to health problems. This should be explored in other pre-clinical trials.