Domestic researchers have developed a contrast agent which can diagnose and treat cancer simultaneously during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

A team led by Professor Lee Kwang-ryeol at Korea University on Monday said that the researchers developed an MRI contrast agent that can effectively work with drugs at the nanometer level.

The researchers said that they injected the MRI contrast agent loaded with anticancer drug "doxorubicin" into mice and confirmed its effects of suppressing cancer cells.

The team expects the new MRI contrast agent will enable cancer treatments to be more effective by allowing the administration of medicine during MRI scans.

The findings appeared in the U.S. science journal “Advanced Materials.”