Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Magnetic material attracts attention for cancer therapy

By R&D Editors | March 5, 2015

An extraordinary self-regulating heating effect that can be achieved in a particular type of magnetic material may open the doors to a new strategy for hyperthermia cancer treatment. 

Temperatures that can be tolerated by healthy body cells have long been known to destroy cancerous cells. An approach that uses magnetic particles that are introduced into tissue and heated remotely has found some success in treating cancer, but the technique is still some way from becoming a standard procedure. 

One of the problems hindering progress is the insufficient heating capacity of magnetic particles. However, researchers led by Prof. Kiyonori Suzuki at Monash Univ. have found a material that not only heats rapidly: it also stops quickly and cannot go on getting hotter. 

What is more, the temperature it reaches is high enough to destroy tumor tissue, but too low to affect normal healthy tissue. 

“This strong, self-regulated heating effect is unmatched by other materials,” Prof. Suzuki said. “It opens a novel design strategy for realizing in vivo hyperthermia therapy.” 

The team, which includes other researchers from Monash, as well as Prof. Karl G Sandeman of CUNY-Brooklyn College and Imperial College London, is investigating well-known magnetocaloric materials known as first-order magnetic materials, which so far have attracted research interest chiefly for magnetic refrigeration. 

The exciting qualities of these materials are tied to their Curie temperature—the point (which varies for different materials) at which magnetic properties undergo change. 

“We chose these materials for our study because the Curie point resides in the ideal temperature range for hyperthermia treatment of cancer cells,” Prof. Suzuki said. 

A critical factor in the extraordinarily large heating power is the first order Curie transition. This is unlike the conventional Curie transition in that two magnetic states coexist. For complex reasons tied to this coexistence, the conversion of external magnetic fields to heat is maximized near the Curie temperature—and then above this temperature, the conversion effect abruptly stops. 

The researchers are hoping that their proof-of-concept study, which was published in Applied Physics Letters, could pave the way for enhanced cancer therapies. 

“Thanks to its extraordinary heating effect, these first-order magnetic materials could prove to be a minimally invasive and inexpensive way of achieving intracellular hyperthermia treatment,” Prof. Suzuki said. 

Source: Monash Univ.

Related Articles Read More >

Eli Lilly facility
9 R&D developments this week: Lilly builds major R&D center, Stratolaunch tests hypersonic craft, IBM chief urges AI R&D funding
professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE