Dose enhancing substances delivered into the tumor have the potential to improve the therapeutic ratio during radiation therapy. These payloads can be delivered with the help of novel biomaterials. Biomaterials can deliver payloads directly into the tumor reducing systemic toxicities. As they biodegrade over time the payload is released continuously, opening new strategies for timing between payload administration and radiation therapy.

In this talk, the application of such biomaterials in in silico, in vitro, and in vivo systems will be discussed. This includes first-time investigation of tumor-associated antigen overexpression in presence of gold nanoparticles during irradiation and a proof-of-principle study in vivo in an animal model.

This research is an important step towards safe application of biomaterials during radiation therapy and will guide the translation for future clinical application.

Short bio:
Dr. Romy Mueller is a post-doctoral researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, in the laboratory of Dr. Ross Berbeco. She completed her doctorate in Physics from Heidelberg University, Germany in 2021. Her doctoral research focused on the simulation and characterization of biomaterial-aided radiation therapy, which will be presented during her talk. She is experienced in in silico, in vitro, and in vivo studies for nanoparticle-aided radiation therapy and immunotherapy. Her special interest lies in pre-clinical in vivo research to facilitate translational radiation therapy studies into clinical trials.