Double the response with half the -nium.

NBTXR3 is a brilliant, albeit not cleverly-named, ongologic concept merging into one novel drug all your least favorite basic sciences: Chemo 101, Orgo, and...dun dun dun...Rad Bio. NBTXR3 is a suspension of nanoparticles containing the inorganic insoluble compound hafnium-oxide, best known for it’s use in ceramics. And now in soft tissue sarcoma (STS). The key here is that hafnium-oxide happens to emit tons of electrons when bombarded with X-rays, making for lots of free radicals in irradiated organic compounds. This European phase 3 trial (LBA7) randomized 180 patients receiving neoadjuvant radiation for STS to +/-  a single intratumoral injection of NBTXR3 just prior to radiation. The primary outcome of complete pathologic response rate was doubled with the addition of NBTXR3 from 8% to 16%, and the rate of margin-negative resections was significantly improved from 64 to 77%. TBL: Forget hyperthermia, hafnium-oxide is the career comeback disillusioned radiation biologists have been looking for. | Bonvalot, ASTRO 2018