Investigation of a breast cancer magnetic hyperthermia through mathematical modeling of intratumoral nanoparticle distribution and temperature elevations

Magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia (MNH) is an adjuvant and independent thermal therapy to treat malignant tumors. It uses the alternating magnetic field and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to generate heat locally and induce cellular damage without any significant collateral damage to the surrounding healthy tissues. The energy dissipated into heat by MNPs, and the consequent temperature rise directly depends on the concentration profiles of MNPs in the tumor. To this end, a mathematical model is presented to model intratumoral injection, post -injection distribution of MNPs, and corresponding temperature elevation within breast tumors. Theories of fluid flow in porous tissues, mass transfer, and Pennes' bioheat equation combined with Rosensweig's theory of magnetic fluid heating are used to simulate magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia. This study also compares the idealistic uniform distribution (UD), and Gaussian distribution (GD) of MNPs with the distributions predicted using the single-site intratumoral injection (SSII). The results demonstrate that UD results in hyperthermia temperatures while GD and SSII lead to ablative temperatures. However, the SSII of MNPs does not result in therapeutic concentrations throughout the tumor region. Even the smallest dosage of 4 mg/cm3 can result in a very high therapeutic temperature in the SSII delivery of MNPs.