(420p) Effectiveness and Toxicity of Magnetic Micelles for Use As Cancer Therapy Agents

To investigate the effectiveness of magnetic micelles for cancer treatment, it is essential to evaluate their toxicity and therapeutic efficacy. These magnetic micelles can also be used to trigger chemotherapy drug release upon application of external magnetic field. In this study, the effects of hyperthermia (at 43 ^oC and 46 ^oC) were tested on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to observe the change in cell viability. The effectiveness of hyperthermia using a water bath was compared to magnetic hyperthermia using iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) placed in a high frequency magnetic field to elucidate any enhanced toxicity caused by magnetic heating. Finally, the toxicity of poly(caprolactone-b-ethylene glycol) micelles and MNPs was evaluated by studying CHO cell viability, when exposed to these materials over a period of 48 hrs. It was observed that hyperthermia using 46 ^oC led to complete cell death, whereas hyperthermia at 43 ^oC partially killed the cells in a period of 48 hours. There was no significant difference in cell viability while using water bath hyperthermia and magnetic hyperthermia. In the range of concentrations tested the MNPs and polymers displayed no statistically significant toxicity to CHO cells in a period of 48 hours, indicating that these materials have potential to be used in therapeutic formulations. These results have laid the foundation for testing magnetically-triggered drug release using polymer micelles that can deliver cancer therapy in a localized area.