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MIT Team Develops Wireless Nanodevices Targeting Deadly Brain Cancer
Glioblastoma is a very serious type of brain cancer that is difficult to remove and treat.
Scientists at MIT created tiny devices called HITMAN to attack these cancer cells.
The devices are placed near the tumor and turned on using a magnetic field outside the head.
This makes the devices create small electric fields around the cancer.
The fields damage cancer cells while reportedly causing less harm to healthy brain cells.
In laboratory tests, HITMAN killed more than half of drug-resistant cancer cells.
In mice, it slowed tumor growth and helped the animals live longer.
The researchers say more work is needed before the treatment can be used in people.
MIT researchers developed HITMAN, a wireless nanodevice system designed to target glioblastoma with localized electric fields.
The approximately 150-nanometer devices are activated by an external magnetic field of no more than 200 kHz.
HITMAN eliminated 52.2% of chemotherapy-resistant glioblastoma cells in laboratory tests, outperforming temozolomide in the reported comparison.
In mouse models, the treatment extended median survival by more than 50% and reduced new cancer colonies from 112–150 to 26.
The researchers reported no detectable toxicity in the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, or spleen during the animal studies.
- Who
- Researchers led by Deblina Sarkar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed HITMAN.
- What
- They developed magnetically actuated nanoantennas that generate localized electric fields to attack glioblastoma cells.
- Where
- The technology was tested in laboratory models and orthotopic mouse brain-tumor models, using patient tumor tissue provided by Mayo Clinic.
- When
- The article does not specify the date of the HITMAN study; it mentions a complementary delivery technology developed in 2025.
- Why
- The researchers are seeking new treatments for aggressive, infiltrative, and chemotherapy-resistant glioblastoma.
Key facts
- Technology
- HITMAN, short for highly-localized electric-field-induced tumor therapy using magnetically actuated nanoantennas
- Device size
- Approximately 150 nanometers
- Activation method
- An external low-frequency magnetic field of no more than 200 kHz
- Laboratory result
- Eliminated 52.2% of chemotherapy-resistant glioblastoma cells
- Animal result
- Extended median survival by more than 50% in orthotopic mouse models
- Recurrence indicator
- New cancer cell colonies fell from 112–150 in control groups to 26
- Reported safety
- No detectable toxicity in the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, or spleen
Quotes
Deblina Sarkar
MIT Media Lab associate professor and head of the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek group
“In laboratory and animal studies, this approach significantly reduced tumor growth and extended survival without detectable side effects, highlighting its potential as a precise and safe brain cancer therapy.”
businesstoday.in
The research team
Researchers developing the HITMAN glioblastoma treatment
“The persistent failure of these therapies underscores the urgent need for novel approaches to target treatment-resistant glioblastoma cells. HITMAN offers a minimally invasive, spatially precise, and clinically translatable therapy for glioblastoma.”
businesstoday.in
Sources
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