TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Vogel, Stefanie A1 - Ebel, Kenny A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - The physico-chemical basis of DNA radiosensitization: Implications for cancer radiation therapy N2 - High-energy radiation is used in combination with radiosensitizing therapeutics to treat cancer. The most common radiosensitizers are halogenatednucleo-sides and cisplatin derivatives, and recently also metal nanoparticles have been suggested as potentialradiosensitizing agents. The radiosensitizingaction of these compounds can at least partly be ascribed to an enhancedreactivity towards secondary low-energy electrons generated along the radiation track of the high-energyprimary radiation, or to an additional emission of secondary reactive electrons close to the tumor tissue. This is referred to as physico-chem ical radiosensitization. In this Conceptarticle we presentcurrent experimental methodsused to study fundamentalprocesses of physico-chemical radiosensitization and discuss the most relevant classes of radiosensitizers. Open questions in the current discussions are identified and future directions outlined, which can lead to optimized treatment protocols or even novel therapeuticconcepts. KW - DNA KW - Radiosensitization KW - Radiation damage KW - Low energy electrons PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201800804 SN - 1521-3765 SN - 0947-6539 VL - 24 IS - 41 SP - 10271 EP - 10279 PB - WILEY AN - OPUS4-45742 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -