TU-H-CAMPUS-TeP3-05: Evaluation of the Microscopic Dose Enhancement in the Nanoparticle-Enhanced Auger Therapy.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to apply Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the nanoparticle dose enhancement for Auger therapy.

METHODS: Two nanoparticle fabrications were considered: nanoshell and nanosphere. In the first step, a single nanoparticle was irradiated with Auger emitters. The electrons were scored in a phase space at the outer surface of the nanoparticle with Geant4-Penelope. In the second step, the previously recorded phase space was used as a source and placed at the center of a cell-size water phantom. The nanoscale dose was evaluated in water around the nanoparticle with Geant4-DNA. The dose enhancement factor (DEF) is defined as the ratio of doses with and without nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were replaced by corresponding water nanoparticle with the same size and volume source which represents typical situation of Auger emitters without nanoparticle. Various sizes/materials of nanoparticles and isotopes were considered.

RESULTS: Nanoshell - Microscopic dose was increased up to 130% at 20 - 100 nm distances from the surface of Au-(125) I nanoshell. However, dose at less than 20 nm distance was reduced due to absorbed low energy electrons in gold nanoshell. The amounts and regions of the dose enhancement were dependent on nanoshell size, materials, and isotopes. Nanosphere - The increased amounts of electrons up to 300% and reduced average energy with nanosphere were observed compared with water nanoparticle. We observed localized dose enhancement (up to a factor 3.6) in the immediate vicinity (< 50 nm) of Au-(125) I nanosphere. The dose enhancement patterns vary according to nanosphere sizes and isotopes.

CONCLUSION: We conclude that Auger therapy with nanoparticles can lead to change of electron energy spectrum and dose enhancements at certain range. The dose enhancement patterns vary according to nanoparticle sizes, materials, and isotopes. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIP: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning) (No. NRF-2013M2B2B1075776).