Doxorubicin release by magnetic inductive heating and in vivo hyperthermia-chemotherapy combined cancer treatment of multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles

Superparamagnetic iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles have been investigated for decades due to their potential biomedical applications. In this study, we synthesized, characterized and biologically tested multifunctional Fe3O4-based drug delivery systems for such an application. The nanosystems were successfully prepared with a small size, high saturation magnetization and high drug loading. The Fe3O4 core in an alternating magnetic field could generate enough heat for both effective hyperthermia therapy and doxorubicin release from the alginate shell for chemotherapy. Also, a folate factor was attached to the nanoparticles to help the system to enter and stay in the tumor cells for a longer time. In vivo experiments showed that the combined treatment was very helpful for the survival of lung cancer-bearing mice, especially in the case of the presence of a folate factor.