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Marriage of Scintillator and Semiconductor for Synchronous Radiotherapy and Deep Photodynamic Therapy with Diminished Oxygen Dependence
Author(s) -
Zhang Chen,
Zhao Kuaile,
Bu Wenbo,
Ni Dalong,
Liu Yanyan,
Feng Jingwei,
Shi Jianlin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201408472
Subject(s) - photodynamic therapy , ionizing radiation , radiation therapy , irradiation , oxygen , photosensitizer , photochemistry , semiconductor , fluorescence , radical , scintillator , chemistry , radiation , materials science , optoelectronics , optics , physics , medicine , organic chemistry , detector , nuclear physics
Strong oxygen dependence and limited penetration depth are the two major challenges facing the clinical application of photodynamic therapy (PDT). In contrast, ionizing radiation is too penetrative and often leads to inefficient radiotherapy (RT) in the clinic because of the lack of effective energy accumulation in the tumor region. Inspired by the complementary advantages of PDT and RT, we present herein the integration of a scintillator and a semiconductor as an ionizing‐radiation‐induced PDT agent, achieving synchronous radiotherapy and depth‐insensitive PDT with diminished oxygen dependence. In the core–shell Ce III ‐doped LiYF 4 @SiO 2 @ZnO structure, the downconverted ultraviolet fluorescence from the Ce III ‐doped LiYF 4 nanoscintillator under ionizing irradiation enables the generation of electron–hole (e − –h + ) pairs in ZnO nanoparticles, giving rise to the formation of biotoxic hydroxyl radicals. This process is analogous to a type I PDT process for enhanced antitumor therapeutic efficacy.