Due to advancements in nanotechnology, the application of nanosized materials (nanomaterials) in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics has become a leading area in cancer research. The decoration of nanomaterial surfaces with biological ligands is a major strategy for directing the actions of nanomaterials specifically to cancer cells. These ligands can bind to specific receptors on the cell surface and enable nanomaterials to actively target cancer cells. Integrins are one of the cell surface receptors that regulate the communication between cells and their microenvironment. Several integrins are overexpressed in many types of cancer cells and the tumor microvasculature and function in the mediation of various cellular events. Therefore, the surface modification of nanomaterials with integrin-specific ligands not only increases their binding affinity to cancer cells but also enhances the cellular uptake of nanomaterials through the intracellular trafficking of integrins. Moreover, the integrin-specific ligands themselves interfere with cancer migration and invasion by interacting with integrins, and this finding provides a novel direction for new treatment approaches in cancer nanomedicine. This article reviews the integrin-specific ligands that have been used in cancer nanomedicine and provides an overview of the recent progress in cancer diagnostics and therapeutic strategies involving the use of integrin-targeted nanomaterials.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology has profoundly transformed current healthcare systems globally, owing to advances in hardware and software research innovations. Despite these advances, MRI remains largely inaccessible to clinicians, patients, and researchers in low‐resource areas, such as Africa. The rapidly growing burden of noncommunicable diseases in Africa underscores the importance of improving access to MRI equipment as well as training and research opportunities on the continent. The Consortium for Advancement of MRI Education and Research in Africa (CAMERA) is a network of African biomedical imaging experts and global partners, implementing novel strategies to advance MRI access and research in Africa. Upon its inception in 2019, CAMERA sets out to identify challenges to MRI usage and provide a framework for addressing MRI needs in the region. To this end, CAMERA conducted a needs assessment survey (NAS) and a series of symposia at international MRI society meetings over a 2‐year period. The 68‐question NAS was distributed to MRI users in Africa and was completed by 157 clinicians and scientists from across Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). On average, the number of MRI scanners per million people remained at less than one, of which 39% were obsolete low‐field systems but still in use to meet daily clinical needs. The feasibility of coupling stable energy supplies from various sources has contributed to the growing number of higher‐field (1.5 T) MRI scanners in the region. However, these systems are underutilized, with only 8% of facilities reporting clinical scans of 15 or more patients per day, per scanner. The most frequently reported MRI scans were neurological and musculoskeletal. The CAMERA NAS combined with the World Health Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency data provides the most up‐to‐date data on MRI density in Africa and offers a unique insight into Africa's MRI needs. Reported gaps in training, maintenance, and research capacity indicate ongoing challenges in providing sustainable high‐value MRI access in SSA. Findings from the NAS and focused discussions at international MRI society meetings provided the basis for the framework presented here for advancing MRI capacity in SSA. While these findings pertain to SSA, the framework provides a model for advancing imaging needs in other low‐resource settings.

No abstract

MRI technology has profoundly transformed current healthcare and research systems globally. The rapidly growing burden of non-communicable diseases in Africa has underscored the importance of improving access to MRI equipment as well as training and research opportunities on the continent. The Consortium for Advancement of MRI Education & Research in Africa (CAMERA) is a network of African experts, global partners, and ISMRM/ESMRMB members implementing novel strategies to advance MRI access and research in Africa. To identify challenges to MRI usage and provide a framework for addressing MRI needs in the region, CAMERA conducted a Needs Assessment Survey (NAS) and a series of symposia at international MRI society meetings over a 2-year period. The 68-question NAS was distributed to MRI users in Africa and completed by 157 clinicians and scientists from across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). On average, the number of MRI scanners per million people remained at <1, of which, 39% were obsolete low-field systems yet still in use to meet clinical needs. The feasibility of coupling stable energy supplies from various sources has contributed to the growing number of higher-field (1.5T) MRI scanners in the region. However, these systems are underutilized with only 8% of facilities reporting clinical scans of 15 or more patients daily per scanner. The most frequently reported MRI scans were neurological and musculoskeletal. Our NAS combined with the World Health Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency data provides the most up-to-date data on MRI density in Africa and offers unique insight into Africa's MRI needs. Reported gaps in training, maintenance, and research capacity indicate ongoing challenges in providing sustainable high-value MRI access in SSA. Findings from the NAS and focused discussions at ISMRM and ESMRMB provided the basis for the framework presented here for advancing MRI capacity in SSA.

T he International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) has provided recommendations that the radiation dose must be delivered within ±5% of prescribed dose. When commissioning treatment planning dose calculation algorithms for radiotherapy, often, the aim is to achieve good agreement between the calculated dose (D C ) and measured dose (D m ), within 1%-2%, for open and wedge (block or compensators) fields in water. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] This is possible using measurement and model-based algorithms in water phantoms; however, such an agreement is usually not possible for measurement-based algorithms in phantoms with heterogeneities. This can be explained based on Objectives: The treatment outcome in patients can be improved with a fast and accurate treatment planning system (TPS) algorithm. The aim of this study was to design a novel head and neck phantom and to use it to test whether the accuracy of the irregular field algorithm of the Precise Plan 2.16 (Elekta Instrument AB, Stockholm, Sweden) TPS was within ±5% of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) limit for homogenous and inhomogeneous media by rotating the Elekta Precise linear accelerator gantry angle using 2 fields. Methods: A locally designed acrylic phantom was constructed in the shape of a block with 5 inserts. Acquisition of images was performed using a HiSpeed NX/i computed tomography scanner (GE Healthcare, Inc. Chicago, IL, USA); the Precise Plan 2.16 TPS was used to determine the beam application setup parameters and an Elekta Precise linear accelerator was used for radiation dose delivery. A pre-calibrated NE 2570/1 Farmer-type ion chamber with an electrometer was used to measure the dose. The mimicked organs were the brain, temporal bone, trachea, and skull. Results: The maximum percentage deviation for 10×10 cm and 5×5 cm inhomogeneous inserts was 1.62 and 4.6, respectively, at a gantry angle of 180°, and that of the 10×10 cm homogeneous insert was 3.41 at a gantry angle of 270°. The percentage deviation for only the bone insert (homogeneous) and for all inserts (inhomogeneous) using parallel opposed beams was 2.89 and 2.07, respectively. Also, the percentage deviation between the locally designed head and neck phantom and the solid water phantom of the linear accelerator was 0.3%. Conclusion:The validation result of our novel phantom in comparison with the solid water phantom was good. The maximum percentage deviations were below the ICRU limit of ±5%, irrespective of gantry angles and field sizes.