**1. Introduction**

Cancer is a disease originating from unregulated cell growth. Those cells can spread throughout the body, causing erroneous behaviors in organs or tissues [1]. Cancer is one of the principal problems in public health and currently is the second leading cause of death worldwide. According to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the International Union for Cancer Control (UICC), there are many types of cancer treatments. Treatment or therapy depends on the cancer, as well as its stage of progress. Most individuals with cancer receive a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy [2]. Chemotherapy is crucial in the prevention of tumor recurrence and progression. Some patients have been treated with chemotherapeutic agents (e.g., Doxorubicin, Cyclodextrin, Cisplatin, Taxanes, Gemcitabine, among others) for long-term survival.

## *Ferrites - Synthesis and Applications*

Despite recent advances in treatments for various types of cancer, the recurrence rate and severe side effects still are a problem. To improve the life quality of cancer patients, more efficient and accurate targeting treatment is an urgent need.

A nanotechnology-based drug delivery system may provide a feasible means to solve the previous challenges. This kind of technology can be a formulation or device that enables a therapeutic substance to selectively reach an area of interest to act without affecting non-target cells, organs, or tissues [3]. One of the most studied, promising, and simplest ways to transport pharmaceutical compounds in the body is using nano entities as delivery vehicles [4]. Moreover, some nanoparticulated systems exhibit sensitivity to external stimuli, such as visible light, near-infrared light, ultrasound, AC or DC magnetic fields, among others. These stimuli could be made use as a tool to flexible control of dose magnitude and timing from the responsiveness (triggered remotely) [5].

Specifically, nanoferrites have been attracted worldwide scientific community attention for applications against cancer due to [6]:


Ferrites are compounds derived from iron oxides, whose composition allows tuning the magnetic properties. According to the magnetic atoms disposition and its chemical environment, material can manifest hard of soft magnetic properties. Nanostructure ferrites have received the most attention for drug delivery applications due to their versatile magnetic and chemical properties [7].

Previous reports have pay attention to the use of nanoferrites in biomedical applications for:


Thus, the chapter aims to correlate the morphology, size, ferrite type, magnetic properties, functionalization, and pharmacokinetics. These correlations allow obtaining a perspective to the physical targeting precision for cancer drug delivery applications. Furthermore, we also discussed the current challenges and future perspectives of nanoferrites in the field of oncology.

*Nanoferrites-Based Drug Delivery Systems as Adjuvant Therapy for Cancer Treatments.… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100225*
