Indian scientists develop new magnetic nanoparticles to boost cancer treatments

New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) A team of scientists from the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has developed new magnetic nanoparticles that will help boost treatments against cancer.

The magnetic system developed using nanoparticles treats cancer by increasing the temperature of tumour cells. The system works through a procedure called magnetic hyperthermia for treating cancer.

Cancer has been considered one of the most threatening diseases for humanity. Of several available treatment methods, the most effective treatments for cancerous cells are radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and stem cell transplant.

All the cancer treatment methods have demonstrated multiple side effects.

In addition to being costly, the treatments are also inaccessible to many.

The team from IASST focused on nanomagnets, which opened a targeted heat generation process (hyperthermia) to treat cancer cells.

The therapy comes with comparatively fewer side effects and is controlled by the magnetic field from outside.

Due to the direct impact of various physical parameters of nanomagnets on the self-heating efficacy, it is challenging to create and control bio-friendly coated magnetic nanoparticles with an effective heat generation efficiency.

Thus, the team synthesised nanocrystalline cobalt chromite magnetic nanoparticles with varying rare-earth Gd dopant contents using the conventional chemical co-precipitation route.

These magnetic nanoparticles' inhomogeneous in fluid form was used further to generate heat under the applied alternating magnetic field."

"The heat generation method of magnetic nanoparticles can be used in treating cancer cells by elevating the cell temperature up to 46 degrees Celsius for a specific duration, causing necrosis in the injured cells when applied to particular cancer locations," the researchers said.

"Thus, superparamagnetic nanoparticles act as nano-heaters and can potentially be utilised in magnetic hyperthermia applications for treating cancer and offering alternative cancer therapy," they added.

The findings have recently been published in Nanoscale Advances, a peer-reviewed journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK.

--IANS

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