Doxorubicin-loaded iron oxide nanoparticles reduce viability in leukaemia cells in laboratory proof of concept

Doxorubicin-loaded, silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles produced substantially greater cytotoxicity against HL60 human promyelocytic leukaemia cells than the same concentration of free doxorubicin in a laboratory proof-of-concept study. At 0.3 µM doxorubicin, cell viability measured with a CCK-8 assay was approximately 5% after nanoparticle-mediated treatment, compared with 39% after treatment with free doxorubicin. The findings concern cultured cells and do not establish clinical efficacy or safety in people with leukaemia.

The study, summarized in the abstract of an open-access article in BMC Cancer, investigated a drug-delivery platform intended for potential use in low- and middle-income countries, where the authors describe poor survival outcomes and a disproportionate leukaemia burden in sub-Saharan Africa. The platform combined iron oxide nanoparticles with a silica coating and doxorubicin. The researchers chemically synthesised the particles and assessed their size, structure, morphology, magnetic responsiveness, drug-loading capacity and release behaviour. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterise particle dimensions, while UV-Visible spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to assess doxorubicin loading and release.

The synthesised iron oxide nanoparticles had a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 157.8 nm and an average core diameter of approximately 15 nm, according to transmission electron microscopy. Coating the particles with silica increased their hydrodynamic diameter to 197.3 nm, and loading doxorubicin increased the particle size further to approximately 317 nm. The researchers reported uniform morphology, successful functionalisation, effective doxorubicin loading and magnetic responsiveness. Unloaded nanoparticles showed relatively low cytotoxicity in the HL60 cell assay. The reported difference in viability at 0.3 µM was measured in vitro; the abstract does not describe an experiment establishing how the particles reached the cells, whether an external magnetic field was used, or whether the platform concentrated doxorubicin at a particular tissue site.

These results provide proof-of-concept evidence that silica-coated, doxorubicin-loaded iron oxide nanoparticles can be produced and can be more cytotoxic to HL60 cells in culture than free doxorubicin at the tested concentration. They do not demonstrate that the approach is superior in patients, that it has an acceptable safety profile, or that it improves leukaemia survival. The abstract identifies several requirements before clinical translation: further physicochemical characterisation, investigation of the mechanisms behind the observed cytotoxicity, safety evaluation and validation in vivo. It also presents the relatively simple synthesis strategy and encouraging cell-assay results as reasons for further investigation of the platform as a potentially scalable nanomedicine approach for resource-constrained settings, but that broader application remains unproven.

Subject of Research: In vitro evaluation of doxorubicin-loaded iron oxide nanoparticles in HL60 human promyelocytic leukaemia cells

Article Title: Application of iron oxide nanoparticles in leukaemia treatment in low and middle income countries: proof of concept

Article References: Kiwumulo, H. F., Kirabira, J. B., Evans, S., & Ssekitoleko, R. T. (2026). Application of iron oxide nanoparticles in leukaemia treatment in low and middle income countries: proof of concept. BMC Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-026-16976-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12885-026-16976-2

Keywords: iron oxide nanoparticles, doxorubicin, HL60 cells, leukaemia, drug delivery, in vitro study, nanomedicine, silica coating, cell viability, proof of concept, Application, iron