Evidence of Radiosensitizing Effects of GdPO{sub 4} Nanostructures
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, 401 West Main Street, Richmond, VA, 23284 (United States)
Developing new methods to improve the outcome of cancer treatment has been one of the main research areas in medicine. Many approaches that allow for tumor targeting and thus reduction of side effects are currently under investigation. Among those, the combination of radiation therapy with certain chemotherapeutic agents has shown significant advances in cancer treatment. Another option is the use of radiosensitizers along with radiation therapy. Radiosensitizers are materials intended to enhance the radiation dose received in the tumor while maintaining the damage to the normal tissue to a minimum. Hence, the development of radiosensitizers has been of interest in recent years in order to improve the survival rate and the quality of life of the patient while reducing the cost of treatment. In this area, nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely explored as radiosensitizers due to the fact that tumor targeting can be achieved and the concentration of NPs on tumor environments can be greatly enhanced through the modification of NPs' surface by addition of agents such as antibodies. More importantly, the chemical composition of the NPs can be adjusted based on the application of interest. In this context, NPs that contain heavy elements have great potential as radiosensitizers due to their mechanisms of interaction with X-rays. For instance, gold NPs have been recognized as radiosensitizers due to their large photoelectric absorption coefficient. Furthermore, lanthanide based NPs have also shown characteristics as radiosensitizers. Among the various lanthanide containing NPs, gadolinium-based nanomaterials (NMs) have shown great potential for multiple applications in medicine such as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Additionally, the combination of gadolinium-based NPs and irradiation has evidenced a significant dose enhancement in in-vivo testing. Moreover, gadolinium-based ultra-small rigid platforms (USRPs) have shown theranostic properties for multimodal detection of lung cancers and radiosensitization effects. Among the various Gd based NPs, GdPO{sub 4} NMs are of increasing interest due to the multiple functions and applications that they may have. To illustrate, GdPO{sub 4} NPs have evidenced relaxitivities that are comparable to the contrast agents commonly used in MRI. Moreover, these NPs can be doped with different lanthanides ions allowing for the implementation of MRI and cellular luminescence for diagnostic purposes. Furthermore, gold-coated gadolinium-lanthanum phosphate NPs have evidenced their ability to encapsulate alpha-emitting radioisotopes of radiotherapeutic interest. This allows for targeted internal radiotherapy by functionalizing the NPs with specific molecules Moreover, low toxicity has been observed on dextran coated GdPO{sub 4} NPs regardless of the potential toxicity of free Gd{sup 3+}. Despite the various applications of GdPO{sub 4}, its response and interaction with X-ray evaluating their potential as radiosensitizers has not been explored. In this work, the radiosensitization of GdPO{sub 4} NMs is evidenced through the decomposition of a dye, methylene blue (MB), after X-ray radiation in the presence of NMs. GdPO{sub 4} was synthesized at moderate temperature following a hydrothermal method based on the precipitation reaction of a salt precursor and a surfactant. The crystalline structure and morphology of these NMs were characterized using Xray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Crystalline GdPO{sub 4} was obtained following the hydrothermal synthesis. Besides, it was observed that the addition of GdPO{sub 4} to the MB solution enhances the decomposition of this dye under X-ray radiation. Therefore, GdPO{sub 4} NMs prove to be promising as radiosensitizers in radiation therapy. Nevertheless, the effect of GdPO{sub 4} on MB decomposition under X-ray radiation requires further study to evaluate the effect of the morphology and concentration of GdPO{sub 4} and the dose effect. (authors)
- OSTI ID:
- 23042527
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 115; Conference: 2016 ANS Winter Meeting and Nuclear Technology Expo, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 6-10 Nov 2016; Other Information: Country of input: France; 14 refs.; available from American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (US); ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CONTRAST MEDIA
DEXTRAN
DOPED MATERIALS
GADOLINIUM
GADOLINIUM IONS
GOLD
HYDROTHERMAL SYNTHESIS
METHYLENE BLUE
MORPHOLOGY
NEOPLASMS
NMR IMAGING
RADIATION DOSES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOSENSITIZERS
RADIOTHERAPY
THERANOSTICS
TOXICITY
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X RADIATION
X-RAY DIFFRACTION