Recently, the Indian institute of researchers have developed a non-invasive method of curing skin cancer with just a bandage that cries magnetic nanofibers. The bandage is a combination of nanoparticles that are produced using a method called electrospinning.
It applies the alternative treatment of magnetic hyperthermia, where the magnetic nanoparticles are used to heat the tumors with the help of external alternating current magnetic fields. Although this technique is quite tough to work with as if the uniform heating is not achieved, it can accumulate in one’s body, and cause toxicity. To avoid this, a group of researchers from the Centre for BioSystems Science and Engineering and the Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics (MRDG) at IISc Bangalore, introduced this unique bandage of curing skin cancer.
Kaushik Suneet, a former project associate at BSSE and the first author of the study explains, “The protocol used to prepare the PCL-Fe3O4 fibrous mat-based bandage took a little more than two months to optimize; however, the in vitro and in vivo tests that involved the testing of the magnetic thermal therapy took quite some time to optimize”.
WORKING
The Fe3O4 nanoparticles incorporated polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers based bandages were fabricated using the electrospinning technique. The efficacy of the bandage was investigated in vitro using parental/doxorubicin hydrochloride (Dox)‐resistant HeLa cells and in vivo using BALB/c mouse model in the presence of an external AC magnetic field (AMF).
For testing the efficacy of this bandage, the researchers conducted two experiments – one was in vitro on human cancer cell lines while the other was in vivo on mice with an artificially induced skin cancer. In both methods, it was able to cure skin cancer effectively. Also, in vivo testing showed that healthy tissue was intact without suffering any damage, burns, or inflammation.
