Basic Reflections on Magnetic Hyperthermia

Abstract

The mild temperature elevation of the target disease site by application of a high-frequency alternating magnetic field, now emerging as a promising anticancer and antimicrobial technology, induces the death of disease cells through mild elevation of temperature to about 42–45 °C and enhances the effects of therapies used in combination with it, including photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy. It is based on introducing magnetic nanoparticles in the disease site, which induces heat generation by hysteresis and Neel and Brownian relaxation. The bench-top magnetic hyperthermia equipment is used to conduct experiments on mice, tissues, cell cultures, and small animal organs such as limbs and biopsies. The equipment uses magnetic hyperthermia coils to deliver the high-frequency alternating magnetic field to the sample. Animal organs, biopsies, and cell cultures can be imaged with thermal imaging or optical microscopy during or after the delivery of the high-frequency alternating magnetic field. The technology has been translated to the clinic. MFH®300F is a patented clinical applicator for humans, used to treat glioblastoma and cancer of the pancreas. It is used as a combination approach with photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy, and as an external stimulus for releasing photosensitizers and drugs once the nanoconjugate carriers are on the target. It has exceptional success with diseases that are hard to reach by light due to dark tissue or bone obstruction.