On the Path to Seeking Novel Radiosensitizers

Katz, David; Ito, Emma; Liu, Fei-Fei

doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2008.12.002

« Previous Next »International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics
Volume 73, Issue 4 , Pages 988-996, 15 March 2009

On the Path to Seeking Novel Radiosensitizers

David Katz, M.Sc.
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Division of Applied Molecular Oncology, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
Emma Ito, M.Sc.
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Division of Applied Molecular Oncology, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
Fei-Fei Liu, M.D., F.R.C.P.C.
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Division of Applied Molecular Oncology, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Reprint requests to: Fei-Fei Liu, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital/Ontario Cancer Institute, 610 University Avenue, Room 7-719, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 2M9. Tel: (416) 946-2123; Fax: (416) 946-4586

Received 7 August 2008; received in revised form 29 November 2008; accepted 2 December 2008.

Radiation therapy is a highly effective cancer treatment modality, and extensive investigations have been undertaken over the years to augment its efficacy in the clinic. This review summarizes the current understanding of the biologic bases underpinning many of the clinically used radiosensitizers. In addition, this review illustrates how the advent of innovative, high-throughput technologies with integration of different disciplines could be harnessed for an expeditious discovery process for novel radiosensitizers, providing an exciting future for such pursuits in radiation biology and oncology.

Radiation therapy, Sensitizers, Hypoxia, High-throughput screens, In silico analyses