Tumor size dependent MNP dose evaluation in realistic breast tumor models for effective magnetic hyperthermia

Abstract

The goal of the current investigation is to determine the breast tumor size-dependent MNP (Magnetic nano-particle) dose (mg/cm3) that can induce the required therapeutic effects during magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia (MNH). The investigation is done through the MNH simulations on the tumor models generated from DCE_MRI DICOM images of breast cancer from TCIA (‘The Cancer Imaging Archive’). Five tumor models are created from MRI data using 3D slicer software having size range of 3 cm3 to 15 cm3. The FEM-based solver (COMSOL multi-physics) is used to simulate bioheat transfer physics in all five extracted models. Single and multi-point injection strategies have been adopted to induce MNP in tumor tissues. The required MNP dose that may induce necessary therapeutic effects is evaluated by comparing the therapeutic effects produced by constant dose (CD) (5 mg/cm3) and variable reduced dose (RD) (5.5–2.8 mg/cm3) methodologies. Results show that for the requisite therapeutic effects, injected MNP doses (mg/cm3) should not remain constant as the size of the tumor increases. In fact, MNP dose (mg/cm3) should be reduced as the size of the tumor increases. Results also show that RD works better with a multi-injection strategy than a single injection of MNP. It has been found that the effective MNP dose (mg/cm3) is reduced by 50 % for the biggest tumor size (15 cm3) using multi-injection MNP delivery with respect to the smallest tumor (3 cm3) selected in this study.