Magnetic Hydrogels as a Treatment for Oncological Pathologies

Cancer is considered today as a prevalent research direction due to the fact that, by 2050, more than 30 million cases will occur, followed by about 19 million deaths. It is expected that scholars will search for new, innovative, and localized therapies to ensure a much more targeted treatment with reduced side effects. Magnetic hydrogels overcome the disadvantages of classical magnetic nanoparticles in various oncological domains, including magnetic hyperthermia, theragnostic, immunotherapy, and, notably, regenerative medicine and contrast substances. We will review the magnetic hydrogel topics that may be involved as a potential application for cancer. Firstly, we present the international context and subject importance in the framework of statistics estimated by some researchers. Then, the magnetic hydrogel synthesis method will be briefly described with examples extracted from the literature. Supplementary, we will emphasize the main attributes of an ideal magnetic hydrogel, and last but not least, we will review some of the latest in vitro and in vivo studies in a direct relationship with magnetic hyperthermia, chemotherapeutic drug release dynamics, and immunotherapy used as single strategies or in combination, by underling the magnetic properties of the hydrogels and importance of application of magnetic fields. We will conclude our review paper by discussing toxicity issues, future trends, limitations, and proposed new approaches to address them.