Co-Adjuvant Nanoparticles for Radiotherapy Treatments of Oncological Diseases

Applied Sciences

Roberta Crapanzano¹  Valeria Secchi¹  Irene Villa² 

[1] Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 55, I-20125 Milano, Italy;Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU), Cukrovarnická 10/112, 162 00 Prague, Czech Republic;

关键词: nanoparticles;    scintillation;    ionizing energy deposition;    radiotherapy;    photodynamic therapy;    singlet oxygen;   

DOI  :  10.3390/app11157073

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Nanomedicine is emerging as promising approach for the implementation of oncological methods. In this review, we describe the most recent methods exploiting heavy nanoparticles and hybrid nanomaterials aiming at improving the traditional X-rays-based treatments. High-Z nanoparticles are proposed as radiosensitizers due to their ability to stop the ionizing radiation and to increase the locally delivered therapeutic dose. Other nanoparticles working as catalysts can generate reactive oxygen species upon X-rays exposure. Thanks to their high toxicity and reactivity, these species promote DNA cancer cells damage and apoptosis. Hybrid nanoparticles, composed by scintillators coupled to organic molecules, are suitable in X-rays activated photodynamic therapy. This work highlights the roles played by the diverse nanoparticles, upon ionizing radiation irradiation, according to their physico-chemical properties, surface functionalization, and targeting strategies. The description of nanoparticle qualities demanded by the oncological nanomedicine is presented in relation to the processes occurring in biological medium when X-ray radiation interacts with heavy nanoparticles, including the scintillation mechanisms, the stopping power amplification, and the disputed modeling of the effective deposit of energy within nanomaterials. The comprehension of these issues in nanomedicine drives the strategies of nanoparticles engineering and paves the way for the development of advanced medical therapies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown