X-ray radiotherapy is a common method of treating cancerous tumors or other malignant\nlesions. The side effects of this treatment, however, can be deleterious to patient quality of life\nif critical tissues are affected. To potentially lower the effective doses of radiation and negative\nside-effects, new classes of nanoparticles are being developed to enhance reactive oxygen species\nproduction during irradiation. This report presents the synthesis and radiotherapeutic efficacy\nevaluation of a new nanoparticle formulation designed for this purpose, composed of a CaF2 core,\nmesoporous silica shell, and polyethylene glycol coating. The construct was additionally doped with\nTb and Eu during the CaF2 core synthesis to prepare nanoparticles (NPs) with X-ray luminescent\nproperties for potential application in fluorescence imaging. The mesoporous silica shell was added\nto provide the opportunity for small molecule loading, and the polyethylene glycol coating was\nadded to impart aqueous solubility and biocompatibility. The potential of these nanomaterials to\nact as radiosensitizers for enhancing X-ray radiotherapy was supported by reactive oxygen species\ngeneration assays. Further, in vitro experiments indicate biocompatibility and enhanced cellular\ndamage during X-ray radiotherapy.
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