Fucan-coated magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized by the co-precipitation method and studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic measurements. The sizes of the nanoparticles were 8-9 nm. Magnetization measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy at 300 K revealed superparamagnetic behavior. The magnetic moment of the Fe3O4 is partly screened by the Fucan coating aggregation. When the magnetite nanoparticles are capped with oleic acid or fucan, reduced particle-particle interaction is observed by Mössbauer and TEM studies. The antitumoral activity of the fucan-coated nanoparticles were tested in Sarcoma 180, showing an effective reduction of the tumor size. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.