Magnetocaloric Material for Cancer Treatment

Cancerous cells have long been recognized to be destroyed by temperatures that healthy body cells can tolerate. Although a technique that uses magnetic particles that are inserted into tissue and heated remotely has shown some promise in the treatment of cancer, it is still a long way from being a common practice.

The poor heating capability of magnetic particles is one of the issues impeding advancement. However, Monash University researchers led by Professor Kiyonori Suzuki discovered a substance that not only heats quickly but also stops and cannot go any hotter. Furthermore, the temperature it achieves is high enough to destroy tumour tissue while remaining low enough not to harm normal healthy tissue.

The International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials: 

Established in 1997, the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) is an Autonomous Research and Development Centre of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, with offices in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Gurgaon. 

The four key thrust areas at ARCI are surface engineering, ceramics, powder metallurgy, and material laser processing. The activities are carried out by 11 Research Centres, with a particular emphasis on the development of nationally distinctive technology and application-oriented programs.

Hyperthermia

Hyperthermia is currently regarded as a generally noninvasive and benign cancer treatment option. This therapy method involves exposing biological tissues to temperatures that are higher than normal in order to induce the elimination of aberrant cells. As a result, it can be divided into various regimens based on the temperature ranges used. 

Cancer cells are easily sensitive to cytotoxic drugs during low- and moderate-temperature hyperthermia (39–45 °C) due to increased membrane permeability and decreased hydrostatic pressure. Thermal ablation uses heat to alter or kill tissue directly. Protein denaturation or disruption of ordered biomolecular assemblages in the nucleus and cytoskeleton can be caused by this sort of therapy.

Issues with hyperthermia:

• Magnetic hyperthermia was created as a result of advancements in magnetic materials to address the negative effects of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy.
• Magnetic nanoparticles are subjected to alternating magnetic fields of a few Gauss in magnetic hyperthermia, which generate heat due to magnetic relaxation losses. The temperature required to kill tumor cells is usually between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius. 
• The disadvantage of magnetic hyperthermia is that it lacks temperature regulation, which can harm healthy cells in the body and cause side effects such as increased blood pressure and hair loss.

Magnetocaloric Effect: 

Magnetic materials aren’t only beneficial in and of themselves as their qualities open up totally new possibilities for nearly every substance. Magnets come in a number of shapes and sizes, and manufacturers build them out of a variety of materials, including iron, stainless steel, brass, bronze, plastic, and so on. Magnets can even be used to treat cancer through the process of magnetic hyperthermia.

• When magnetic substances are exposed to a fluctuating magnetic field, the Magnetocaloric Effect is usually perceived as reversible heating and cooling.
• The ordering of the magnetic moments of the atoms that make up the material is changed when the strength of an external magnetic field is increased or decreased, changing magnetic entropy. When there is no heat exchange with the environment, the magnetic entropy change must be compensated by a change in the temperature of the material, which can either heat or cool.
• Near the material’s Curie temperature or the temperature of spontaneous magnetic ordering/disordering, the Magnetocaloric Effect is strongest.

Rare-earth Based Alloy (magnetocaloric material): 

Because magnetocaloric materials can offer regulated heating, these issues can be avoided. The advantage of magnetocaloric materials that heat up or cool down with the application and removal of a magnetic field is that cooling occurs as soon as the magnetic field is withdrawn, unlike magnetic nanoparticles, where overheating persists even after the magnetic field is removed.

• Some rare earth minerals are compatible with the human body, the ARCI team chose to study rare-earth-based alloys. 
• They tweaked the alloy’s composition to get the Curie temperature near to the therapeutic range (42-460°C) for killing cancer cells. For 15 minutes, preliminary hyperthermia measurements were conducted utilizing an Ambrell EASY HEAT laboratory induction heating system, with temperature readings taken every minute at SCTIMST. 
• The temperature of rare-earth nanoparticles soared to 590°C when a magnetic field was applied to dry materials. Particles were dispersed in distilled water to imitate injection into a tumour, and the temperature was found to be 380°C. 
• With a rise in the magnetic field, the heating capacity is projected to increase. ARCI and SCTIMST are measuring tumour cells in vitro with rare-earth nanoparticles disseminated in fluids for testing with MRI at a stronger magnetic field of 0.5 Tesla in order to generate more data.

This technology, when combined with radiation therapy, would lessen side effects, human body harm, and cancer tumour treatment time.

Conclusion: 

The magnetocaloric materials developed by ARCI that become warmer or cooler when a magnetic field is applied and removed are being tested at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST). The Journal of Alloys and Compounds has published a paper on the research.