Successful synthesis of SPION/HAp - Superparamagnetic hybrid material
Prof. Dr. Dinh Thi Mai Thanh works at the laboratory
SPION/HAp hybrid materials - a new trend in cancer treatment
In the last few years, research on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) has grown dramatically, with applications in many scientific fields including biomedical engineering, medicine, cancer treatment, magnetic drug conductivity and contrast due to their unique properties. In cancer treatment, even with the use of new anti-cancer drugs, chemotherapy is not 100% effective and also affects healthy tissues and the whole body. Furthermore, cancerous tissues are often resistant to radiation therapy due to the hypoxic effect. Therefore, it is necessary to look for new therapies and treatments to treat cancer.
Current trends in research and clinical trials are mainly focused on developing new methods of treating cancer that target cancer cells without affecting surrounding healthy tissue. The new technique that has yielded promising results in cancer treatment is magnetic hyperthermia (MH). The combination of SPIONs with anti-cancer agents will provide a greater synergistic effect on cancer cells rather than just the additional chemotherapy, magnetic hyperthermia treatment used on cancer cells.
Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is a substance widely used in biomedical applications due to its advantages in terms of bioactivity and biocompatibility. Moreover, it can be easily synthesized on an industrial scale reducing production costs and widely applied in many fields. HAp has been studied leading to many different drugs such as amino acids, steroids, hormones, proteins, vaccines, phenolic, acetylsalicylic acid, genes, antigens, enzymes, antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs. With the application of porous hydroxyapatite, the SPION/HAp hybrid material is used as a substrate material to immobilize anticancer drugs that will be released locally. SPIONs nanoparticles will have therapeutic applications even for chemotherapy- and radiation-resistant tumor cells.
Bladder cancer (UTBQ)
UTBQ is a common malignant disease in the urogenital organs (including kidneys, ureters, bladder, prostate, urethra ...). Worldwide, UTBQ kills more than 212,000 patients annually from more than half a million-people diagnosed, and there are still no new therapies. The treatment is mainly based on chemotherapy with the therapeutic effect unchanged for almost 30 years. On average in the 5 years to 2020, UTBQ came in 11th place out of 35 (according to Globocan 2020). In Vietnam, the number of cases in 2020 was 1721, ranking 20/35, of which the number of deaths was 902.
Successful synthesis of SPION/HAp - superparamagnetic hybrid material
With the goal of synthesizing a new composite capable of effectively conducting drugs, killing UTBQ cells, Prof. TS. Dr. Dinh Thi Mai Thanh and colleagues of Hanoi University of Science and Technology have implemented the project: "Research on synthesis of super-dominant hybrid materials from SPION/HAp biocompatibility applied in bladder cancer drug conduction" (code: CT0000.09/21-23).
Within the framework of the project, the scientists successfully synthesized new composites (SPION/HAp, SPION/HAp/Cu and SPION/HAp/Cu/5-FU) based on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, hydroxyapatite, copper and anticancer drugs that enable local magnetic hyperthermia to kill UTBQ cells. The newly synthesized material was tested to investigate temperature changes under AC magnetic fields, the samples were all able to reach therapeutic temperatures. The research team determined the appropriate concentration of material samples to obtain the effect of exposure to cancer cells and determined the activity and cytotoxic potential of SPION/HAp/Cu material modified with 5-FU on cancer cells. The results showed that SPION/HAp/Cu/5-FU was capable of killing bladder cancer cells by up to 75% and increased synergistic efficiency when placed in an external magnetic field with a temperature increase of 45oC in 2000s. The results of the study proved the hypothesis of scientists about the synergistic effect of magnetic hyperthermia, combined with antitumor agents in the destruction of cancer cells, is correct.
Image of newly synthesized material: a. Solid material; b. Suspension material; c. SEM scanning electron microscopy image of the material; d. TEM-transmitted electron microscopy image of the material
Prof. Dr. Dinh Thi Mai Thanh said: This research direction has high applicability because the precursors for material synthesis are all chemicals with low cost, require a simple synthesis process and do not require modern equipment. Composites combined with the anticancer drug 5-FU may be ideal for treating UTBQ cells and work better than drug treatment alone. Therefore, the team will continue to research and test in vivo material systems (SPION/HAp, SPION/HAp/Cu, SPION/HAp/5-FU, SPION/HAp/Cu/5-FU) on animals such as mice, with and without external magnetic fields, and nanocomposite materials have the potential to carry other anti-cancer drugs (ovarian cancer, liver cancer...) will continue to be surveyed in the near future.
Translated by Phuong Ha
Link to Vietnamese version
