Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) has emerged as a promising technique for cancer treatment to improve radiation precision and accuracy, thereby reducing the treatment toxicity and optimizing therapeutic efficacy. In IGRT, fiducial markers are required to be inserted near the tumor to get the spatial information of the tumor. Currently used metal fiducial markers with large sizes would be highly invasive; therefore, it is critical to develop minimally invasive alternatives to these markers. In this work, an injectable marker based on Biopex-supported Au NPs with adequate radio-opacity for X-ray visualization was developed. Biopex can function as a substrate for the growth of Au NPs and avoid excessive reaction-induced aggregation and precipitation. The self-curing property of Biopex prevents the leakage and elimination of isolated Au NPs, enabling long-term X-ray observation and radiotherapy. The effect of Biopex amount, gold precursor concentration, and reaction time were evaluated. The visibility of samples prepared by the optimized formula was also examined. The developed Biopex-Au NPs could be injected through a 21 G needle and exhibit great visibility in the X-ray visualization test, showing great potential as a fiducial marker for image-guided radiation therapy.
Keywords: apatite; bone cement; calcium phosphate; fiducial marker; gold nanoparticle; image-guided radiation therapy; injectable.