Synthesis and characterization of Au-198 nanoparticles for radiotherapy

Nanomedicine has incredible potential to revolutionize cancer therapy and diagnosis by developing biocompatible nanocompounds for drug delivery purposes, with the most pertinent application being nanoparticles (NPs). The premise of using NPs in brachytherapy is the possibility of treating the tumor in a way that minimizes radiation dose to adjacent healthy tissues, since they can be inserted directly into the tumor, thus avoiding the unwanted effects of radiation treatment and reducing the patient discomfort. The small size of the particles would allow greater diffusion in the tumor, thus creating a homogeneous distribution of NPs and, consequently, a uniform distribution of radiation. It is important to highlight that the literature has shown that brachytherapy with NPs is effective in inhibiting tumor growth. Therefore, this work focuses on the development of a gold-198 nanoparticle (AuNPs-198) applicable in brachytherapy. Aiming at the physical-chemical characterization stages of the same. (author)