Magnetic-Driven Hydrogel Robots Loaded with Mitomycin for Active Therapy of Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Intravesical drug instillation is a common treatment for bladder cancer, but it suffers from poor targeting and suboptimal patient experience due to the influence of gravity. Here, we innovatively designed a bladder cancer treatment method using sodium alginate hydrogel magnetic robots as mitomycin drug carriers. The magnetic-driven hydrogel robots with mitomycin (MHRMs) are fabricated by uniformly mixing alginate solution, neodymium-iron-boron nanoparticles, and mitomycin, followed by the formation of MHRMs capable of carrying mitomycin in a calcium chloride solution. After being injected into the bladder through the urethra and controlled by a magnetically driven surgical platform, MHRMs perform a helical motion along the bladder wall, uniformly coating the drug on the bladder wall, thereby improving therapeutic efficiency and patient experience. Compared to traditional drug perfusion methods, this study offers a potential therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer by using microrobots for targeted and uniform drug delivery, effectively inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and demonstrating significant potential in precision medicine applications.