Radiosensitization: Studies and Modern Approaches to Cellular Radiosensitivity

Even though radiation therapy has achieved great success, there is still an unsolved task of increasing radiation damage to tumor tissue and reducing side effects on healthy tissues. There is a wide variety of obstacles that reduce the efficiency of radiotherapy. Mechanisms of radioresistance involve tumor-specific oncogenic signalling pathways, tumor metabolism and proliferation, tumor microenvironment/hypoxia, and genomics. Radiosensitizers are promising agents that enhance injury to tumor tissue by accelerating DNA damage. Several strategies have been used recently to develop highly effective radiosensitizers with low toxicity. In this review, we considered the use of radiosensitizers, including small molecules and nanomaterials, in various malignant tumors and the problems and prospects for their clinical use in cancer therapy.