Gd-doped Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPION) for Potential Cancer Theranostics

Integration of diagnostic imaging and therapeutic function into a single platform, so-called “Theranostics”, is of great research interest as a new direction in nanomedicine research. Superparamagnetic Fe₃O_{4 (}SPION) is considered as an ideal vehicle in the development of theranostic nanomedicines as they can be multi-purposely used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and targeted delivery of therapeutic agents such as anticancer drugs, siRNA and magnetic hyperthermia (MHT). Even though the multi-functionality of SPION based nano systems for drug delivery and imaging modalities has been investigated widely, the possibility of incorporating MHT and MRI is not explored much. According to other studies, Gd-doped SPION can be used as a T₁ –T₂ dual-modal contrast agent for MR imaging. They have the potential to act as an effective MHT agent but to the best of our knowledge, there are very few studies done in that light. Our recent research interest focuses on Gd-doped SPION as a potential theranostic agent for combined MHT/MRI and the results of our recent MHT study on Gd-doped SPION as a possible theranostic agent are discussed in this talk.