Highlights
- •The observed sensitization of GNPs in MV beams is higher than the simulated DER.
- •The experimentally reported sensitization of GNPs in kV beams is less than the simulated DER.
- •There is an enhancement in Linear Energy Transfer (LET).
- •LET enhancement ratio shows an excellent agreement with the sensitization reported.
- •LETER is a potentially efficacious metric in predicting the biological outcome of GNP.
Abstract
Objective
The metric dose enhancement ratio (DER) has been widely used to assess the enhancing
capability of gold nanoparticles (GNPs). However, there is a large disparity between
the observed radiobiological outcome and DER values. A new metric, linear energy transfer
enhancement ratio (LETER), is introduced to bridge the gap between theoretical predictions
and the experimentally measured sensitization.
Methods
The radiation transport code SCEPTRE is used to examine the efficacy of the proposed
new metric. Different clusters of GNPs irradiated with x-ray photons generated at
120 kVp and therapeutic 6 MV photon beams are investigated. For each pattern, two
GNPs sizes are examined 50 and 100 nm.
Results
An enhancement in the linear energy transfer has been observed for both energies.
In the case of 120 kVp, LETER is substantially lower than DER; moreover, it decreases
with increasing GNP size. On the other hand, the results of 6 MV show that LETER is
relatively higher than DER, and it increases with the size of GNP. For the studied
energies, LETER is in good agreement with the sensitization reported in the literature.
Conclusion
The results indicate the merit of LETER as a better indicator of the radiobiological
outcome of GNP aided radiotherapy.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 23, 2019
Accepted:
February 23,
2019
Received in revised form:
January 16,
2019
Received:
November 21,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
