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Review
. 2018 Jun 3;8(6):401.
doi: 10.3390/nano8060401.

Magnetic Hyperthermia and Radiation Therapy: Radiobiological Principles and Current Practice †

Spiridon V Spirou  1 , Martina Basini  2 , Alessandro Lascialfari  3 , Claudio Sangregorio  4   5 , Claudia Innocenti  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Magnetic Hyperthermia and Radiation Therapy: Radiobiological Principles and Current Practice †

Spiridon V Spirou et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Hyperthermia, though by itself generally non-curative for cancer, can significantly increase the efficacy of radiation therapy, as demonstrated by in vitro, in vivo, and clinical results. Its limited use in the clinic is mainly due to various practical implementation difficulties, the most important being how to adequately heat the tumor, especially deep-seated ones. In this work, we first review the effects of hyperthermia on tissue, the limitations of radiation therapy and the radiobiological rationale for combining the two treatment modalities. Subsequently, we review the theory and evidence for magnetic hyperthermia that is based on magnetic nanoparticles, its advantages compared with other methods of hyperthermia, and how it can be used to overcome the problems associated with traditional techniques of hyperthermia.

Keywords: cancer therapy; hyperthermia; magnetic fluid hyperthermia; magnetic nanoparticles; nanomedicine; radiation therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsor had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript.

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