An oxygen-enriched thermosensitive hydrogel for the relief of a hypoxic tumor microenvironment and enhancement of radiotherapy

micro-CT imaging. After peritumoral injection of the oxygen-enriched composite hydrogel, the continuous supply of oxygen effectively relieved tumor hypoxia and down-regulated the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α. Profiting from this, the hyposensitivity of tumor cells to radiation was successfully reversed, and the tumor growth in mice was significantly suppressed and the survival of mice was prolonged when combined with multiple X-ray exposure. As a result, the oxygen-enriched composite hydrogel shows a great potential for radiosensitization to improve the radiotherapeutic efficacy.