Radiation therapy along with chemotherapy and surgery remain the main cancer treatments. Radiotherapy can be applied to patients externally (external beam radiotherapy) or internally (brachytherapy and radioisotope therapy). Previously, nanoencapsulation of radioactive crystals within carbon nanotubes, followed by end-closing, resulted in the formation of nanocapsules that allowed ultrasensitive imaging in healthy mice. Herein we report on the preparation of nanocapsules initially sealing "cold" isotopically enriched samarium (152Sm), which can then be activated on demand to their "hot" radioactive form (153Sm) by neutron irradiation. The use of "cold" isotopes avoids the need for radioactive facilities during the preparation of the nanocapsules, reduces radiation exposure to personnel, prevents the generation of nuclear waste, and evades the time constraints imposed by the decay of radionuclides. A very high specific radioactivity is achieved by neutron irradiation (up to 11.37 GBq/mg), making the "hot" nanocapsules useful not only for in vivo imaging but also therapeutically effective against lung cancer metastases after intravenous injection. The high in vivo stability of the radioactive payload, selective toxicity to cancerous tissues, and the elegant preparation method offer a paradigm for application of nanomaterials in radiotherapy.

Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology CSIC and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology Campus UAB 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona Spain

Centre for Molecular Oncology Barts Cancer Institute Queen Mary University of London London EC1M 6BQ United Kingdom

Cis Bio International Ion Beam Applications SA Gif sur Yvette 91192 France

CNRS Immunology Immunopathology and Therapeutic Chemistry University of Strasbourg UPR 3572 67000 Strasbourg France

Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering Czech Technical University Prague Prague 11519 Czech Republic

Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona Campus UAB 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona Spain

Institute of Pharmaceutical Science King's College London London SE1 9NH United Kingdom

INSTM Unit of Trieste Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Trieste Via L Giorgieri 1 34127 Trieste Italy

J Heyrovsky Institute of the Physical Chemistry Dolejskova 3 182 23 Prague 8 Czech Republic

Medical Physics Laboratory University of Ioannina Medical School Ioannina 45110 Greece

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