Trastuzumab and folic acid functionalized gold nanoclusters as a dual-targeted radiosensitizer for megavoltage radiation therapy of human breast cancer

Gold nanomaterials for oral cancer diagnosis and therapy: Advances, challenges, and prospects

“…At present, studies have proved that combined hyperthermia and radiotherapy have a good synergistic effect [ 167 ]. AuNPs are promising radiation sensitizers due to their ultra-small size and strong ability to adsorb, scatter, and re-emit radiation [ [168] , [169] , [170] ]. AuNPs increase the radiation sensitivity of tumors and reduce the radiation dose [ 168 ].…”

Single- versus Dual-Targeted Nanoparticles with Folic Acid and Biotin for Anticancer Drug Delivery

“…Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) functionalized with folic acid and trastuzumab (Herceptin ® ) as dual-targeted radiosensitizer agents have been analysed [164]. Herceptin (HER) is widely applied in some types of cancer treatments as a chemotherapy agent but can also be used as a bioligand to increase tumour cell internalization of nanoparticles in HER2-positive breast cancer cells [168,169].…”

“…In addition, trastuzumab by enhancing radiation-induced apoptosis can increase the synergy between chemotherapy and radiotherapy as a chemoradiotherapy modality. The dual-targeting strategy led to an enhancement accumulation of the nanoclusters in the cancer cells via active targeting mechanisms and to enhance significantly radiation therapy efficiency with the sensitization enhancement factor (SER) 1.77 and 1.5 fold larger than those obtained using non-targeted AuNCs [164].…”

Modulating the Radiation Response for Improved Outcomes in Breast Cancer

“…When trastuzumab is administered with RT, breast cancer cell lines display decreased Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase/ extracellular regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) phosphorylation and increased apoptosis compared to treatment with trastuzumab alone. 40,41 There is also some evidence to suggest that trastuzumab may affect the efficiency of DNA repair pathways and the cell cycle, 42 which may contribute to radiosensitization. As a result, the combination of trastuzumab and external beam RT has been evaluated in multiple trials for patients with HER2overexpressing breast cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00943410), 43 as well as in patients with HER2+ ductal carcinoma in situ to improve the efficacy of therapy (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00769379).…”