FOUNDATION-SUPPORTED STUDY FINDS IRON NANOPARTICLES ARE SAFE AND PROMISING FOR CANCER IMAGING

A promising study shows that certain iron-based nanoparticles may more safely help detect and treat cancer. Researchers tested several types of tiny iron oxide particles—similar to those already approved by the FDA for other uses—to see how they affect the body and where they travel after injection.

The study, conducted in mice, found no lasting harm to the liver or kidneys 60 days after treatment. While the immune system reacted briefly after the nanoparticles were introduced, those effects quickly returned to normal. Researchers also discovered that how the nanoparticles were coated—using materials like polyethylene glycol (PEG) or hydroxyethyl starch (HES)—determined where they accumulated in the body. Some, such as PEG-coated iron particles, built up inside tumors making them easier to detect.

The findings suggest that these iron nanoparticles could prove a safer, more effective use in cancer imaging and therapy. Their work, “Intravenously administered iron oxide nanoparticles with different coatings show reversible perturbation of immune cells in peripheral blood with no signs of toxicity in mice” is in the latest issue of the journal Frontiers in Toxicology.

This study is an evolution of immunotherapy work long supported by the JKTG Foundation and led by Robert Ivkov, PhD and Preethi Korangath, PhD, both with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.