Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 27, 2025

Radiation Planning Assistant - A Streamlined, Fully Automated Radiotherapy Treatment Planning System
Published on: April 11, 2018
Monte Carlo Simulation-Guided Design of a Thorium-Based Metal-Organic Framework for Efficient
Ziwan Xu1, Taokun Luo1, Jianming Mao1
1Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL-60637, USA.
Abstract:
High-Z metal-based nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (nMOFs) with photosensitizing ligands can enhance radiation damage to tumors via a unique radiotherapy-radiodynamic therapy (RT-RDT) process. Here we report Monte Carlo (MC) simulation-guided design of a Th-based nMOF built from Th6 -oxo secondary building units and 5,15-di(p-benzoato)porphyrin (DBP) ligands, Th-DBP, for enhanced RT-RDT. MC simulations revealed that the Th-lattice outperformed the Hf-lattice in radiation dose enhancement owing to its higher mass attenuation coefficient. Upon X-ray or γ-ray radiation, Th-DBP enhanced energy deposition, generated more reactive oxygen species, and induced significantly higher cytotoxicity to cancer cells over the previously reported Hf-DBP nMOF. With low-dose X-ray irradiation, Th-DBP suppressed tumor growth by 88 % in a colon cancer and 97 % in a pancreatic cancer mouse model.

