title: Nanotube x-ray for cancer therapy: a compact microbeam radiation therapy system for brain tumor treatment.
abstract: Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is a promising preclinical modality for cancer treatment, with remarkable preferential tumoricidal effects, that is, tumor eradication without damaging normal tissue functions. Significant lifespan extension has been demonstrated in brain tumor-bearing small animals treated with MRT. So far, MRT experiments can only be performed in a few synchrotron facilities around the world. Limited access to MRT facilities prevents this enormously promising radiotherapy technology from reaching the broader biomedical research community and hinders its potential clinical translation. We recently demonstrated, for the first time, the feasibility of generating microbeam radiation in a laboratory environment using a carbon nanotube x-ray source array and performed initial small animal studies with various brain tumor models. This new nanotechnology-enabled microbeam delivery method, although still in its infancy, has shown promise for achieving comparable therapeutic effects to synchrotron MRT and has offered a potential pathway for clinical translation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Inscoe
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chtcheprov
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hadsell
authors.forename: Yueh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Sha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D036103:Nanotechnology; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000379:methods*
keywords: U87MG glioma; brain tumor; carbon nanotube; glioblastoma multiforme; image guidance; microbeam radiation therapy; temozolomide; x-ray; γ-H2AX