New Method for Heat Application to Cancer Cells
Professor Park Won-chul at the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology of Seoul National University and professor Paek Sun-ha at the Department of Neurosurgery of Seoul National University Hospital announced on July 16 that their research team has developed iron-iron oxide core-shell nanoparticles capable of enhancing the effect of cancer thermotherapy.
The new nanoparticles are characterized by selective oxidation of iron nanoparticle surfaces. Those can be easily synthesized at a low cost and provide excellent photothermal effects, which means easy heat application to cancer cells. In the team’s experiments in laser and AC magnetic field environments, the temperature of the nanoparticles rose by approximately 20 degrees Celsius and six degrees Celsius within five minutes, respectively. In addition, the same increases in temperature were confirmed in its experiments repeated five times, which means the nanoparticles are highly durable and reliable in performance.
Gold nanoparticles are characterized by being expensive and yet showing weak mechanical properties. Iron nanoparticles are highly magnetic, have strong physical properties, and thus are effective for thermotherapy, and yet cannot be repeatedly used with ease as oxidation is likely to occur. The new nanoparticles are expected to overcome these weaknesses.
Details of the research are available in the Nano Convergence journal.