Magnetic technology guides therapeutic nanoparticles to deep-tissue site

摘要

Scientists! at the Polytechnique de Montreal have demonstrated in a proof-of-concept study, recently published in Biomaterials, the magnetic navigation of nanoparticles loaded with a cancer-fighting drug to tumour sites. The study, which showed the use of magnetic resonance navigation (MRN) technology to guide particles, known as therapeutic magnetic microcarriers (TMMCs), through the hepatic artery of rabbits to a specific tumor site in the liver, demonstrates a step towards the ideal oncology treatment, targeted delivery of a toxic drug to cancer cells while preserving the healthy surrounding tissue. Magnetic targeting using external magnets which guide drug-delivery vehicles to cancerous sites has shown promise as a delivery strategy, however, deep-tissue targeting, as would be required to treat tumors in internal organs such as the liver, is still an issue due to the decrease in magnetic field strength experienced by the delivery vehicles when they reach these sites, making their targeting more difficult. The deep-tissue targeting shown in this study was achieved by using the blood vessel network as a 'highway' to reach deep internal sites, using the MRN technology to guide the TMMCs through the blood-vessel network to reach deep tissue.