Enhanced radiation therapy with multilayer microdisks containing radiosensitizing gold nanoparticles.

A challenge of X-ray radiation therapy is that high dose X-rays at therapeutic conditions damage normal cells. This paper describes the use of gold nanoparticle-loaded multilayer microdisks to enhance X-ray radiation therapy, where each microdisk contains over 10(5) radiosensitizing nanoparticles. The microdisks are attached on cell membranes through electrostatic interaction. Upon X-ray irradiation, more photoelectrons and Auger electrons are generated in the vicinity of the nanoparticles, which cause water ionization and lead to the formation of free radicals that damage the DNA of adjacent cancer cells. By attaching a large amount of gold nanoparticles on cancer cells, the total X-ray dose required for DNA damage and cell killing can be reduced. Due to their controllable structure and composition, multilayer microdisks can be a viable choice for enhanced radiation therapy with nanoparticles.