Catalytic radiosensitization: Insights from materials physicochemistry.

Catalytic radiosensitization opens up a new promising direction of radiotherapy enhancement from the perspective of catalytic chemistry, and also provides more opportunities for the design and application of biomedical catalytic materials. This review summarizes the ingenious design and application of catalytic nanomaterials in tumor catalytic radiosensitization from the aspects of electron modulation and energy conversion, respectively, and proposes the strategies, challenges and guidelines for the further development of the catalytic radiosensitization. [Display omitted] Radiotherapy is indispensable in clinical cancer treatment, but because both tumor and normal tissues have similar sensitivity to X-rays, their clinical curative effect is intrinsically limited. Advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnologies have been developed for radiotherapy sensitization, typically employing high atomic number (high-Z) materials to enhance the energy deposition of X-rays in tumor tissues, but the efficiency is largely limited by the toxicity of heavy metals. A new and promising approach for radiosensitization is catalytic radiosensitization, which takes advantage of the catalytic activity of nanomaterials triggered by radiation. The efficiency of catalytic radiosensitization can be greatly enhanced by electron modulation and energy conversion of nanocatalysts upon X-ray irradiation, further enhancing the clinical curative effect. In this review, we highlight the challenges and opportunities in cancer radiosensitization, discuss novel approaches to catalytic radiosensitization, and finally describe the development of catalytic radiosensitization based on an in-depth understanding of radio-nano interactions and catalysis–biological interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]