title: The role of recent nanotechnology in enhancing the efficacy of radiation therapy.
abstract: Radiation therapy is one of the most commonly used non-surgical interventions in tumor treatment and is often combined with other modalities to enhance its efficacy. Despite recent advances in radiation oncology, treatment responses, however, vary considerably between individual patients. A variety of approaches have been developed to enhance radiation response or to counteract resistance to ionizing radiation. Among them, a relatively novel class of radiation sensitizers comprises nanoparticles (NPs) which are highly efficient and selective systems in the nanometer range. NPs can either encapsulate radiation sensitizing agents, thereby protecting them from degradation, or sensitize cancer cells to ionizing radiation via their physicochemical properties, e.g. high Z number. Moreover, they can be chemically modified for active molecular targeting and the imaging of tumors. In this review we will focus on recent developments in nanotechnology, different classes and modifications of NPs and their radiation sensitizing properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) partner site: Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Judith W J
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bergs
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer-Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Wacker
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hehlgans
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine I, Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Albrecht
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piiper
authors.affiliation: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) partner site: Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Radiation Oncology, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Str. 22, D-81675 Munich, Germany; Clinical Cooperation Group (CCG) "Innate Immunity in Tumor Biology", Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health Munich, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Multhoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) partner site: Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rödel
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Electronic address: franz.roedel@kgu.de.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rödel
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004337:Drug Carriers; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D053758:Nanoparticles; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D011878:Radiotherapy
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004337:Drug Carriers
keywords: Cancer therapy; Molecular tumor targeting; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Radiation sensitization; Radiation therapy