Radiation Sensitizers

Book excerpt: In spite of years of clinical research and trials of a variety of new and promising therapies, cancer remains as a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Use of ionizing radiation in treatment of cancer quickly followed the discovery of X-rays and radioactivity at the dawn of the last century. The limited success of radiotherapy has been attributed to several factors if which the intrinsic radioresistance of tumor cells, their fast reproduction, and tumor hypoxia are the major causes. Radiation Sensitizers: A Contemporary Audit presents data on newer hypoxic cell sensitizers like senazole and deal with old molecules such as chlorpromazine in a new role of sensitization. Bringing together information scattered throughout published and unpublished literature, the book contains contributions from an international panel that examines new therapies and new uses of old therapies. It contains tables and diagrams that illustrate the concepts and make the information easy to find.