Radioprotectors are compounds that protect against radiation injury when given prior to radiation exposure. Mitigators can protect against radiation injury when given after exposure but before symptoms appear. Radioprotectors and mitigators can potentially improve the outcomes of radiotherapy for cancer treatment by allowing higher doses of radiation and/or reduced damage to normal tissues. Suc...

The identification of radioprotectors is an important goal for those involved in radiation oncology and for those interested in the investigation of the mechanisms of radiation cytotoxicity. Recently, a new class of in vitro and in vivo radioprotectors, the nitroxides, has been discovered. The nitroxides are low-molecular-weight stable free radicals which are freely membrane permeable and which...

Exposure of living organisms to ionizing radiation can cause health hazards and radioprotectors are employed to minimize such unwanted effects. Over the years a number of sulfhydryl compounds have been examined for radioprotection and only one agent, amifostine, is approved in the clinic. Selenium, a higher analogue of sulfur, is a micronutrient and a constituent of redox enzymes like glutathio...

Radiotherapy and radiology have been indispensable components in cancer care for many years. The detection limit of small tumor foci as well as the development of radio-resistance and severe side effects towards normal tissues led to the development of strategies to improve radio-diagnostic and -therapeutic approaches by pharmaceuticals. The term "radiopharmaceutical" has been used for drugs la...