Research progress in the spacing and protection of hydrogels in radiotherapy for tumors / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

ABSTRACT

Radiotherapy is a primary method for treating tumors. However, since surrounding healthy tissues may also receive a certain dose of irradiation during the radiotherapy, they may suffer from radiation-induced damage, which is even serious for certain patients. Injectable hydrogels are expected to achieve the spacing between target areas and their surrounding tissues during radiotherapy, thus increasing the dose to the target areas while reducing the risk of radiation-induced damage to surrounding healthy tissues and organs. Accordingly, the quality of life of the patients can be improved. Therefore, applying injectable hydrogels serves as a potential strategy for reducing the adverse reactions associated with radiotherapy. This paper reviews the latest research progress in the spacing and protection of hydrogels in radiotherapy for different tumors.