Biocompatible glasses for cancer treatment

Abstract

Treatment of cancer is an old issue in the history of medicine. Millions cases are reported every year, as well as millions of cancer-related deaths are also registered. The development of new technologies is changing this scenario, and new cancer treatment techniques have been included in the clinical routine. Among these techniques, hyperthermia and brachytherapy have an interesting prominence. Hyperthermia has been suggested as an auxiliary therapy for cancer treatment,while brachytherapy offers the opportunity of delivering high dose beta radiation emission into the cancerous tissue. In this chapter, we pointed out the use of biocompatible glasses (please consult the Editor’s note in order to clarify the usage of the terms bioglass, bioactive glass and biocompatible glasses) for cancer treatment by either hyperthermia or brachytherapy. A quick review about hyperthermia is provided, and the main compositions of biocompatible glasses used in hyperthermia are discussed regarding their magnetic and biological properties. In addition, few glasses with suitable radiological properties with potential application in prostate cancer and liver cancer are reviewed, as well as new possible glasses composition are considered from the point of view of Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations.