Personalized radiation attenuating materials for mucosal protection

Patients receiving radiation therapy will develop normal tissue injury as a result of treatment. If a radiation attenuating material is placed in normal tissues, it may reduce the radiation received by that tissue. In this study, we measured the radiation attenuating properties of different materials. We investigated the dosimetric impact of three patient-specific radioprotective devices: a 3D-printed intra-oral device for oral cavity cancer patients, and balloon catheters with radioprotective liquids in the esophagus and rectum for lung and prostate cancer patients respectively. The oral cavity and rectum devices demonstrated protective properties in retrospective treatment plans, so in vivo application of these devices was tested in a rat model. Rats treated with the protective devices in place showed decreased ulcerations and erythema of the oral and rectal mucosa compared to control animals. Use of radioprotective devices in patients has the potential to reduce the morbidity of radiation treatments for cancer.