Water dispersible Fe3O4 nanoparticles carrying doxorubicin for cancer therapy.

Water dispersible Fe3O4 nanoparticles (coated with Poly Vinyl Pyrolidone (PVP) and Poly oxy ethylene 25-propylene glycol stearate (POES)) and complexed with Doxorubicin has been prepared and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The antitumor activity of these particles has been studied by targeting the complex to the tumor site, using an externally applied magnetic field, after oral administration of the magnetic nanoparticle-drug complexes. Our results reveal that the chemotherapy effect of Doxorubicin could be considerably enhanced by combination of the application of the drug-conjugated magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles, which are biocompatible and stable, and targeted drug delivery with a magnet. The present report provides the first evidence for the promising application of this novel approach with PVP coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles for cancer therapy using an in vivo murine model.