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Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy

Radiation (RT) remains the most frequently used treatment against cancer. The main limitation of RT is its lack of specificity for cancer tissues and the limited maximum radiation dose that can be safely delivered without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues. A step forward in the development of...

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Autores principales: Secchi, Valeria, Monguzzi, Angelo, Villa, Irene
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9369190/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35955867
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms23158736
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author Secchi, Valeria
Monguzzi, Angelo
Villa, Irene
author_facet Secchi, Valeria
Monguzzi, Angelo
Villa, Irene
author_sort Secchi, Valeria
collection PubMed
description Radiation (RT) remains the most frequently used treatment against cancer. The main limitation of RT is its lack of specificity for cancer tissues and the limited maximum radiation dose that can be safely delivered without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues. A step forward in the development of better RT is achieved by coupling it with other treatments, such as photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT is an anti-cancer therapy that relies on the light activation of non-toxic molecules—called photosensitizers—to generate ROS such as singlet oxygen. By conjugating photosensitizers to dense nanoscintillators in hybrid architectures, the PDT could be activated during RT, leading to cell death through an additional pathway with respect to the one activated by RT alone. Therefore, combining RT and PDT can lead to a synergistic enhancement of the overall efficacy of RT. However, the involvement of hybrids in combination with ionizing radiation is not trivial: the comprehension of the relationship among RT, scintillation emission of the nanoscintillator, and therapeutic effects of the locally excited photosensitizers is desirable to optimize the design of the hybrid nanoparticles for improved effects in radio-oncology. Here, we discuss the working principles of the PDT-activated RT methods, pointing out the guidelines for the development of effective coadjutants to be tested in clinics.
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spelling pubmed-93691902022-08-12 Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy Secchi, Valeria Monguzzi, Angelo Villa, Irene Int J Mol Sci Review Radiation (RT) remains the most frequently used treatment against cancer. The main limitation of RT is its lack of specificity for cancer tissues and the limited maximum radiation dose that can be safely delivered without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues. A step forward in the development of better RT is achieved by coupling it with other treatments, such as photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT is an anti-cancer therapy that relies on the light activation of non-toxic molecules—called photosensitizers—to generate ROS such as singlet oxygen. By conjugating photosensitizers to dense nanoscintillators in hybrid architectures, the PDT could be activated during RT, leading to cell death through an additional pathway with respect to the one activated by RT alone. Therefore, combining RT and PDT can lead to a synergistic enhancement of the overall efficacy of RT. However, the involvement of hybrids in combination with ionizing radiation is not trivial: the comprehension of the relationship among RT, scintillation emission of the nanoscintillator, and therapeutic effects of the locally excited photosensitizers is desirable to optimize the design of the hybrid nanoparticles for improved effects in radio-oncology. Here, we discuss the working principles of the PDT-activated RT methods, pointing out the guidelines for the development of effective coadjutants to be tested in clinics. MDPI 2022-08-05 /pmc/articles/PMC9369190/ /pubmed/35955867 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms23158736 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Secchi, Valeria
Monguzzi, Angelo
Villa, Irene
Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy
title Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy
title_full Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy
title_fullStr Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy
title_full_unstemmed Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy
title_short Design Principles of Hybrid Nanomaterials for Radiotherapy Enhanced by Photodynamic Therapy
title_sort design principles of hybrid nanomaterials for radiotherapy enhanced by photodynamic therapy
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9369190/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35955867
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms23158736
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