title: Recent developments in radiosensitization.
abstract: Radiation therapy is essential for local tumor control for many types of cancer histologies. Technological advancements in recent years have allowed for precise irradiation of target tissues while minimizing the dose to non-target tissues. To enhance radiation damage to cancer cells and further limit the radiation effects on normal tissue, researchers have explored compounds that specifically target cancer cells and make them more sensitive to ionizing radiation. Recent radiosensitization research has focused on promising compounds that alter hypoxia, inhibit topoisomerases, interfere with microtubules, and activate caspases, among other mechanisms. Many such compounds have shown impressive results in pre-clinical trials against a variety of cell types, but their safety, efficacy and practicability in clinical trials remains to be demonstrated. This review seeks to provide an overview of recent research in radiosensitization, detailing some of the more successful compounds, and illustrating avenues for future research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Linam
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A. yangl@cpmcri.org.
authors.forename: Li-Xi
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D015687:Cell Hypoxia / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011836:Radiation Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D059003:Topoisomerase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents; D059003:Topoisomerase Inhibitors
keywords: Radiosensitivity; hypoxia; radiosensitizers; radiotherapy; reactive oxygen species; review; topoisomerase