Radiotherapy for cancer using X-ray fluorescence emitted from iodine

Radiation treatment is popular and the apparatus is already available in many hospitals. Conventional radiation treatment by itself is not sufficient to achieve complete cure. Therefore, radiosensitizers have been developed to enhance the therapeutic effects of the treatment. The concept of radiosensitization with high-Z-elements was first considered many decades ago. However, radiosensitizers are not commonly used in the clinical setting. Here, we propose a radiotherapy method that utilizes fluorescent X-ray emissions from iodine. This approach should achieve a greater therapeutic effect than that of conventional radiotherapy treatments. In our radiotherapy, iomeprol was used as the iodine-donor. The X-ray apparatus with copper and aluminum filters could be used for the X-ray irradiation, the apparatus is not needed for exclusive use. The X-ray apparatus is only required to prepare the copper and aluminum filters. As proof-of-concept, we show that tumor growth was attenuated using this treatment with iomeprol.