Page 54 - GTM-4-2

Global Translational Medicine SPION for cancer theranostics

5.7. Combination therapies unlock the potential of SPION-based technologies.

Integrating SPIONs with other treatment methods, such Once these challenges are addressed, multifunctional
as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy, SPIONs could be further developed for theranostics of
various diseases, paving the way for their application in
requires careful optimization and an understanding of translational medicine in the near future.
synergistic effects, dosage schedules, and possible drug
interactions. Acknowledgments
5.8. Clinical translation and ethical hurdles Jnanranjan Panda gratefully acknowledges Faculty of
Although preclinical studies have shown encouraging Science, Sri Sri University, Cuttack, India. The authors
results, clinical trials are necessary to evaluate the safety, also thank Dr. Bhabani Sankar Satapathy, GITAM School
effectiveness, and long-term outcomes of SPION-based of Pharmacy, Hyderabad campus, Telangana, India, for
therapies. Regulatory licensing or approval procedures his fruitful discussions during the preparation of the
for SPION-based medicines are stringent due to concerns manuscript.
about long-term retention in the body, clearance pathways, Funding
and potential unforeseen adverse effects. Therefore,
navigating these regulatory and approval processes is None.
necessary to bring these treatments into clinical practice.
Conflict of interest
5.9. Scalability The authors declare no competing interests.
Variations in synthesis techniques lead to inconsistencies
in size, surface coating, and magnetic properties, which Author contributions
hampers the reproducibility of SPIONs. As a result, Conceptualization: Jnanranjan Panda
producing SPIONs on a large scale while adhering to good Writing – original draft: All authors
manufacturing practices remains expensive and technically Writing – review & editing: All authors
challenging.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
5.10. Limited clinical success compared to other
nanocarriers Not applicable.
Although the FDA has approved polymeric NPs (such Consent for publication
as Abraxane) and liposomes (like Doxil), SPION-based
treatments are still in the experimental stage due to issues Not applicable.
with toxicity and clearance pathways. Availability of data
6. Conclusion and future perspective Not applicable.

This review summarizes the synthesis, surface stabilization, References
and advancements in Fe O NPs, which are emerging as
3
4
versatile platforms for multimodal tumor imaging and 1. Lee N, Yoo D, Ling D, Cho MH, Hyeon T, Cheon J. Iron oxide
drug delivery. The presence of active functional groups based nanoparticles for multimodal imaging and magneto
responsive therapy. Chem Rev. 2015;115:10637-10638.
on Fe O NPs allows for the conjugation of biological
3
4
and therapeutic molecules, thereby enhancing their doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00112.
versatility. Recent developments in Fe₃O₄ NP synthesis and 2. Gao J, Gu H, Xu B. Multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles:
modification have expanded their potential for effective Design, synthesis, and biomedical applications. Acc Chem
theranostic applications. In addition, when combined with Res. 2009;42(8):1097-1107.
other treatments, SPION-based nanoplatforms show great doi: 10.1021/ar9000026
promise for imaging-guided cancer therapy and MHT-
enhanced treatments. However, as with all advancements, 3. Panda J, Ghouri K, Sarkar R, Tudu B. Fabrication and
characterization of self-assembled zinc ferrite nanospheres
some SPION-based formulations face limitations, such as for biomedical applications. Appl Phys A. 2022;128(4):1-9.
insufficient renal clearance and the risk of side effects due
to iron overload. Nevertheless, ongoing research is actively doi: 10.1007/s00339-022-05456-6
addressing the long-term effects of SPIONs on biological 4. Hao R, Xing R, Xu Z, Hou Y, Gao S, Sun S. Synthesis,
systems, striving to overcome these obstacles and fully functionalization, and biomedical applications of

Volume 4 Issue 2 (2025) 46 doi: 10.36922/gtm.8464