Abstract
The Copper-cysteamine (Cu-Cy) nanoparticle is a novel sensitizer with a potential to increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy for cancer treatment. In this work, the effect of nanoparticle size and the energy of X-rays on the effectiveness of radiation therapy are investigated. The effect of the particle size on their performance is very complicated. The nanoparticles with an average size of 300 nm have the most intense photoluminescence, the nanoparticles with the average size of 100 nm have the most reactive oxygen species production upon X-ray irradiation, while the nanoparticles with the average size of 40 nm have the best outcome in the tumor suppression in mice upon X-ray irradiation. For energy, 90 kVp radiation resulted in smaller tumor sizes than 250 kVp or 350 kVp radiation energies. Overall, knowledge of the effect of nanoparticle size and radiation energy on radiation therapy outcomes could be useful for future applications of Cu-Cy nanoparticles.
Highlights
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as an efficient modality for cancer treatment with many advantages, including activated acute immune responses, negligible side effects, little intrinsic or acquired resistance, minimal invasiveness, and drug resistance [1,2,3,4]
Copper-cysteamine (Cu-Cy) nanoparticle [15] is a novel sensitizer that can be activated by various excitation sources such as ultraviolet (UV) light [15,16], microwave (MW) [17,18], X-ray [7,15,19,20], and ultrasound (US) [21] as well as a cancer-specific intracellular stimulating agent (H2O2/acidic pH) [22] to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) for cancer treatment
For the first time, we have investigated the effects of different sizes of Cu-Cy nanoparticles and radiation energies on X-ray mediated photodynamic therapy
Summary
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as an efficient modality for cancer treatment with many advantages, including activated acute immune responses, negligible side effects, little intrinsic or acquired resistance, minimal invasiveness, and drug resistance [1,2,3,4]. Light sources used in conventional PDT cannot penetrate deep tissues, thereby limiting its clinical application [6]. To solve this problem, several possible solutions have been proposed, such as inventing novel photosensitizers and developing up-conversion nanoparticles [7,8,9]. The combination of Cu-Cy and potassium iodide (KI) was able to destroy both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria when excited by UV light [23]. This evidence directs us to believe that Cu-Cy nanoparticles have the potential to be a next-generation nanomedicine for cancer treatment and bacterial inactivation. The ability of Cu-Cy nanoparticles to be activated by X-rays has received a great deal of attention among researchers as this would help to enhance existing radiotherapy by decreasing the radiation dose required to achieve the same therapeutic outcome, thereby reducing the occurrence of side-effects
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
