Beyond Traditional Hyperthermia: In Vivo Cancer Treatment with Magnetic-Responsive Mesoporous Silica Nanocarriers

Abstract

In this study, we present an innovation in the tumor treatment in vivo mediated by magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles. This device was built with iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles embedded in a mesoporous silica matrix and coated with an engineered thermoresponsive polymer. The magnetic nanoparticles act as internal heating sources under an alternating magnetic field (AMF) that increase the temperature of the surroundings, provoking the polymer transition and consequently the release of a drug trapped inside the silica pores. By a synergic effect between the intracellular hyperthermia and chemotherapy triggered by AMF application, significant tumor growth inhibition was achieved in 48 h after treatment. Furthermore, the small magnetic loading used in the experiments indicates that the treatment is carried out without a global temperature rise of the tissue, which avoids the problem of the necessity to employ large amounts of magnetic cores, as is common in current magnetic hyperthermia.

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Complex Bone Diseases: Bone Cancer, Bone Infection and Osteoporosis

“…Their main advantage is that they would allow the application of the stimulus directly by the clinician, thereby providing a much higher control of the release kinetics. For instance, the generation of heat through the application of alternating magnetic fields has been employed trigger drug release from MSNs and generate hyperthermia-mediated cell death [70][71][72]. The use of light (ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared) has also attracted the attention of many researchers, and constitutes a non-invasive method to trigger the release from MSNs [73][74][75].…”

Physical‐, chemical‐, and biological‐responsive nanomedicine for cancer therapy

“…Smart nanoparticles have combined magnetic hyperthermia and chemotherapy to achieve a complete cure of myeloma tumor. More recently, a magnetic-responsive mesoporous nanoparticle was developed, which contained magnetic nanoparticles in core and thermal-sensitive polymer on shell (Guisasola et al, 2018). The encapsulated magnetic nanoparticles acted as internal sources under AMF, which increase the surrounding temperature.…”

Nanocomposite Polymer Scaffolds Responding under External Stimuli for Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering Applications

“…The drawbacks are the complexity of use, the cost and the specific implementation for a surgeon. The typical ranges of use in frequency of the magnetic field goes from 100 < f < 437 kHz; 30 < time < 60 min; B < 100 mT . Current issues with the use of magnetic nanomaterials as stimuli‐responsive systems is that they should be as least cytotoxic as possible.…”

“…The typical ranges of use in frequency of the magnetic field goes from 100 < f < 437 kHz; 30 < time < 60 min; B < 100 mT. [42,43] Current issues with the use of magnetic nanomaterials as stimuli-responsive systems is that they should be as least cytotoxic as possible. Even if metallic NPs or cobalt or zinc-doped ferrites would be highly preferred for their high saturation magnetization, they would induce important toxicity because of the release of heavy metals.…”