The Fight Against Cancer Heats Up

Cancer is the world's second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases, and more than 10 million people develop the disease each year, over 400,000 of them in Germany.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that nearly 16 million people will be diagnosed with cancer annually by the year 2020, mainly because of increases in life expectancy. The last few decades have seen remarkable advances in medicine, but cancer treatment still routinely involves invasive surgery, radiation or chemotherapy - procedures which all have unpleasant and often painful side effects.

Now, a German company is working on a technology that could revolutionize the whole field of cancer treatment - using the smallest imaginable tools. Berlin-based MagForce Nanotechnologies is the global leader in the field of nanotechnology cancer treatment. The company has developed a process whereby minute magnetic particles are used to treat tumors, with very minimal side effects, thus significantly enhancing patient quality of life.

Tackling cancer cells from within

It's a long established fact that subjecting cancer cells to temperatures above 46° C irreparably damages them. This is because tumor tissue only has a limited ability to spread warmth from within and so heats up more than healthy tissue. Thermotherapy used in cancer treatment follows this principle, but this only involves the introduction of heat into the body from an external source, usually through microwaves.

For over 20 years MagForce chief scientist Dr. Andreas Jordan has been taking an entirely different approach. By turning the tumor itself into a "heating element" at temperatures of between 41° and 70° C, it is possible to attack it directly from within. Because only the tumor is heated, the surrounding healthy tissue is not damaged.

A little nano goes a long way

To achieve this, MagForce uses nanoparticles of iron oxide heated in a magnetic field. They may look tiny and insignificant - one suspended in a drop of water is as big as a soccer ball compared to the sun - but they have some remarkable properties. One milliliter of particle solution contains more than 17 quadrillion nanoparticles, which allows them to be evenly distributed among the tumor cells. This makes it possible to achieve the necessary temperature using only small amounts of fluid with a relatively weak magnetic field.

The nanoparticles are coated with an "intelligent" animosilane structure that forms a protective enclosure around an iron oxide core. This enables them to stay within the tumor in sufficiently large quantities without being rejected, and also prevents them clumping together inside the tumor. The coating also maximizes the concentration of iron oxide within the magnetic fluid - essential for the subsequent success of the therapy.