Clinical Feasibility Study of Gold Nanoparticles as Theragnostic Agents for Precision Radiotherapy

Abstract

Background: Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) may be useful in precision radiotherapy and disease monitoring as theragnostic agents. In diagnostics, they can be detected by computerized tomography (CT) because of their higher atomic number. AuNP may also improve the treatment results in radiotherapy due to a higher cross-section, locally improving the physically absorbed dose. Methods: Key parameters values involved in the use of AuNP were imposed to be optimal in the clinical scenario. Mass concentration of AuNP as an efficient contrast agent in clinical CT was found and implemented in a Monte Carlo simulation method for dose calculation under different proposed therapeutic beams. The radiosensitization effect was determined in irradiated cells with AuNP. Results: an AuNP concentration was found for a proper contrast level and enhanced therapeutic effect under a beam typically used for image-guided therapy and monitoring. This lower energetic proposed beam showed potential use for treatment monitoring in addition to absorbed dose enhancement and higher radiosensitization at the cellular level. Conclusion: the results obtained show the use of AuNP concentration around 20 mg Au·mL−1 as an efficient tool for diagnosis, treatment planning, and monitoring treatment. Simultaneously, the delivered prescription dose provides a higher radiobiological effect on the cancer cell for achieving precision radiotherapy.

ICG-Functionalized Gold Nanostars As An Effective Contrast Agent For Real-time Tumor Localization with Dynamic Optical Contrast Imaging (DOCI) and Enhanced Radiation Therapy

“…Gold, when compared to soft tissue provides approximately 100 times more ionization events at 80KeV over soft tissue. 27 This explains the reduction in tumor growth displayed in mice that received some form ICG-GNS administration mice in Figure 5 , a finding that is consistent with our prior studies. 13 This finding is highly clinically significant as it indicates that administration of GNS may allow for radiation dose de-escalation, which is highly advantageous and leads to improved patient quality of life and patient satisfaction.…”

Albumin-Modified Gold Nanoparticles as Novel Radiosensitizers for Enhancing Lung Cancer Radiotherapy

“…[40][41][42] Owing to the emission of low-energy photoelectrons and the interaction of Auger electrons, high-Z nanomaterials can absorb, scatter, and eradicate radiation energy. Moreover, when compared with other metal-based nanomaterials, Au-based nanomaterials are most widely used for this purpose, owing to the following advantages it offers: 1) a strong X-ray attenuation 1960 capability that makes it suitable for use in computer tomography (CT) imaging contrast agent and radiosensitizer [43][44][45] ; 2) as it can be easily surface-modified and embedded in structures such as liposomes and polymer particles, it is frequently used in different tumor treatment protocols; 3) as an inert metal, it exhibits good biocompatibility and low biotoxicity.…”

Clinical Viability of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy for Personalized Radiation Treatment

“…Thus, despite an initial lower γH2AX foci count, the BNCT DNA damage profile involves more complex and irreparable damage patterns that would mean a higher radiobiological effect. In any case, further studies could be implemented using some of the automatic quantification algorithms for γH2AX foci [ 72 , 73 ] could be implemented for a more exhaustive and robust foci quantification.…”