Smart Radiotherapy Biomaterials for Cancer Therapy and Imaging

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Targeting and Design".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 December 2025 | Viewed by 824

Special Issue Editors

Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Interests: image-guided radiotherapy; smart material; medical image analysis
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Guest Editor
Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Interests: smart radiotherapy biomaterials; customizable liquid biomaterial; LIFE biomaterial; immunotherapy; theranostics

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Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Interests: image-guided radiotherapy; medical imaging; cancer

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cancer is the second cause of death worldwide in 2024, and one of the main reasons for its poor therapy is due to traditional treatment modalities such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and/or surgery. The associated toxicity related to the traditional treatment methods elicits many studies to be conducted preclinically evaluating the use of smart radiotherapy biomaterials in cancer treatment. The acclimation of smart biomaterials to the fluctuating physiological parameters and any outward tensions makes them compelling influencers on many aspects of homeopathic technology. Smart biomaterials can enhance promising treatments and boost the administration of long-lasting diseases, and they are applied in the fields of drug delivery systems, regenerative medicine, radiotherapy, medical gadgets, and immunotherapy. Preclinical studies have demonstrated many advantages, such as active targeting, long circulation, low immunogenicity, controlled drug release, and reduced toxicological effects in utilizing nanocarriers as targeted therapy for malignant tumors. Smart biomaterials can offer tissue-demonstrated precise modulation in the immunity of a cancer patient.

The goal of this Special Issue is to emphasize topical progress in research on applying smart radiotherapy biomaterials in cancer treatment and imaging. We encourage investigators and scientists to contribute original research and review articles underlining the latest applications of smart radiotherapy biomaterials in cancer treatment and imaging.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Kai Ding
Dr. Michele Moreau
Dr. Debarghya China
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • multifunctional biomaterials
  • theranostic biomaterials
  • smart drug delivery systems
  • nanobiomaterials
  • cancer radiotherapy
  • polymer-based biomaterials nanocarriers customizable biomaterials for cancer therapy and imaging smart nanomaterials

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 5989 KB  
Article
Leveraging the Immune Response from LIFE Biomaterial and Photon-Flash in Pre-Clinical Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
by Michele Moreau, Katelyn Kelly, Serena Mao, Debarghya China, Girmachew Wasihun, Aditya Pandya, MohammadAli Tajik-Mansoury, Daniel Sforza, Devin Miles, Amol K. Narang, Mohammad Rezaee, Wilfred Ngwa and Kai Ding
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(10), 1273; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17101273 - 29 Sep 2025
Abstract
Pre-clinical animal studies evaluating the ‘flash effect’ caused by ultra-high dose rate (≥40 Gy/s) favorably spares normal tissue from radiation-caused toxicity while maintaining anti-tumor effects like conventional (CONV) radiation. The goal of this study is to leverage an immune response resulting from the [...] Read more.
Pre-clinical animal studies evaluating the ‘flash effect’ caused by ultra-high dose rate (≥40 Gy/s) favorably spares normal tissue from radiation-caused toxicity while maintaining anti-tumor effects like conventional (CONV) radiation. The goal of this study is to leverage an immune response resulting from the treatment combination of flash radiotherapy (Flash-RT) and LIFE (liquid immunogenic fiducial eluter) biomaterial incorporating an anti-mouse CD40 monoclonal antibody to enhance the therapeutic ratio in pancreatic cancer. Methods: A small animal FLASH radiation research platform (FLASH-SARRP) was utilized to deliver both ultra-high and CONV dose-rate irradiation to treat syngeneic subcutaneous pancreatic tumors generated in 8–10-week-old male and female C57BL6 mice. The efficacy of FLASH versus CONV radiotherapy (RT) at varying doses of 5, 8, 10, and 15 Gy delivered in a single fraction was evaluated by assessing tumor growth and mice survival over time or comparing tumor weight at 10 days post-treatment. Results: Similar tumor control capability was observed by the high-dose rate and conventional RT related to the control group. Nevertheless, longer survival was observed for the FLASH group at 5 Gy compared to CONV and control at either 5 Gy, 10 Gy, or 15 Gy doses. Multiplex immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry results showed higher T-cell infiltration within the combination of RT (either FLASH or CONV) and LIFE biomaterial-treated tumors compared to the control cohort. Conclusions: This animal study serves as an impetus for future studies leveraging the immune response using the combination of FLASH and LIFE Biomaterial to enhance the efficacy of pancreatic cancer treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Radiotherapy Biomaterials for Cancer Therapy and Imaging)
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