Original Title: Nanopartículas magnéticas y dispositivo generador de campo magnético para hipertermia en el tratamiento del cáncer de páncreas

Authors' objectives: To assess the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of using magnetic nanoparticles and a magnetic field generator (NanoTherm® therapy) to induce hyperthermia for treating pancreatic cancer.

Authors' results and conclusions: None of the studies retrieved by the literature search were included in the analysis, but the search requested from the ECRI Institute identified a relevant case series, reported in conference proceedings, assessing NanoTherm® therapy in patients with oesophageal and pancreatic cancer. It was a pilot study exploring feasibility and safety, to assess whether this therapy could be safely used for these types of cancer. The authors concluded that NanoTherm® therapy in combination with chemo or chemoradiotherapy was feasible and reasonably well tolerated even in patients with advanced-stage disease. Other studies have been identified on the use of magnetic hyperthermia for pancreatic tumours, these reporting longer life expectancy, though they noted that hyperthermia alone was insufficient and needed to be used in combination with chemo/radiotherapy. Another novel therapy, very similar to the NanoTherm® technique, is described in a study of its feasibility for treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma conducted under the framework of the NoCanTher project; this therapy uses the magnetic hyperthermia system of Resonant Circuits Limited and has showed promising results in preclinical and animal studies. Treatment with hyperthermia induced by magnetic nanoparticles is a promising innovative therapeutic strategy for pancreatic cancer. NanoTherm® therapy has been approved for clinical use in patients with recurrent glioblastoma and prostate cancer and is currently under investigation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer in preclinical studies and animal model. As well as the NanoTherm® system, other therapies for the same indication are being tested in clinical trials. This study has certain limitations, and indicates a need for further research, advancing from preclinical studies to high-quality clinical trials.

Authors' methods: The process was started by requesting a literature search through the ECRI Institute, and this served as a basis for the final search for the review. For this review, the following databases were consulted: general biomedical databases such as Medline (via PubMed) and Embase (via Ovid), but also multidisciplinary databases including Web of Science and Scopus. The search was limited to studies published in the last 10 years in English or Spanish.

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2024

URL for published report: https://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/informacion/osteba_publicacion/eu_def/adjuntos/E-25-02-Nanoparticulas_magneticas_dispositivo_gener.pdf

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Rapid Review

Country: Spain

Organisation Name: Basque Office for Health Technology Assessment

Contact Address: C/ Donostia – San Sebastián, 1 (Edificio Lakua II, 4ª planta) 01010 Vitoria - Gasteiz

Contact Name: Lorea Galnares-Cordero

Contact Email: lgalnares@bioef.eus

Copyright: <p>Osteba (Basque Office for Health Technology Assessment) Health Department of the Basque Government</p>