# Fe 3 O 4 /ZIF-8-90 Nanocomposite as a Strategy for Oncological Treatment

## TL;DR

A new nanocarrier combines magnetic properties and drug delivery to treat cancer with reduced side effects and improved targeting.

## Contribution

Development of a Fe3O4/ZIF-8-90 nanocomposite with dual therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities for cancer.

## Key findings

- The nanocarrier showed 85% cell viability for healthy cells at 100 μg/mL.
- It demonstrated selective cytotoxicity against breast and lung cancer cells.
- The nanomaterial achieved 5.2°C temperature increase in 10 min for magnetic hyperthermia.

## Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide,
and
traditional treatments, such as systemic chemotherapy, often have
side effects due to their lack of specificity. This limitation has
driven the search for new, more selective, and effective therapeutic
strategies. In this context, this study proposes the development of
a magnetic nanocarrier with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles
(SPIONs) associated with the metal–organic framework ZIF-8-90,
forming the Fe3O4/ZIF-8-90 nanosystem. The synthesized
nanocarrier showed a uniform size distribution, with an average diameter
of 97 nm, and could adsorb approximately 13% of the 5-FU load. Fe3O4/ZIF-8-90 exhibited significant biocompatibility
for healthy cells (Vero strain), maintaining 85% cell viability at
concentrations of up to 100 μg/mL. In contrast, it showed selective
cytotoxicity against breast (MDA-MB-231) and lung (H292) tumor cells.
As for its therapeutic potential through application in magnetic hyperthermia,
the nanomaterial raised the temperature by up to 5.2 °C in just
10 min, using field amplitude and frequency below the biologically
safe limits. In addition, relaxometric characterization also pointed
to Fe3O4/ZIF-8-90 as a promising contrast agent
for MRI in T2 mode, achieving an r
2 relaxivity of 180.15 mM–1 s–1. These results consolidate the synthesized Fe3O4/ZIF-8-90 nanocarrier as a promising theranostic platform, combining
therapeutic efficacy and diagnostic functionality for oncological
applications.