Improving the efficacy and spatial targeting of radiation therapy while sparing surrounding normal tissues has been a guiding principle for its use in cancer therapy. Nanotechnologies have shown considerable growth in terms of innovation and the development of new therapeutic approaches, particularly as radiosensitizers. The aim of this study was to systematically review how nanoparticles (NPs) are used to enhance the radiotherapeutic effect, including preclinical and clinical studies. Clinicaltrials.gov was used to perform the search using the following terms: radiation, cancer, and NPs. In this review, we describe the various designs of nano‐radioenhancers, the rationale for using such technology, as well as their chemical and biological effects. Human trials are then discussed with an emphasis on their design and detailed clinical outcomes.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has created a need for effective personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent viral spread. PPE like face masks contain the spread of virus-filled droplets and thus reduce infection rates, has been a critical tool in stopping the spread of SARS-CoV-2. PET plastic barriers have also been used in public settings to reduce face to face viral transmission. However, in some cases, they have provided additional contact with the virus due to contamination. In order study, we evaluated the effectiveness of face masks and PET plastics coated in different metals in reducing viral load. We compared PPE printed with silver, copper, or zinc for their ability to inactivate live human coronavirus HCoV 229E. Our results show that silver and copper have significant anti-viral efficacy when printed on nonwoven fabric compared to the controls. The metal-printed PET showed around 70% anti-viral efficacy with any formulations, with copper performing the best. This work builds more data to support the development of metal printed materials for enhanced protection against coronaviruses.

The role of macrophages in regulating the tumor microenvironment has spurned the exponential generation of nanoparticle targeting technologies. With the large amount of literature and the speed at which it is generated it is difficult to remain current with the most up-to-date literature. In this study we performed a topic modeling analysis of the most common usages of nanoparticle targeting of macrophages in solid tumors. The data spans 20 years of literature, providing an extensive meta-analysis of the nanoparticle strategies. Our topic model found 6 distinct topics: Immune and TAMs, Nanoparticles, Imaging, Gene Delivery and Exosomes, Vaccines, and Multi-modal Therapies. We also found distinct nanoparticle usage, tumor types, and therapeutic trends across these topics. Moreover, we established that the topic model could be used to assign new papers into the existing topics, thereby creating a Living Review. This type of meta-analysis provides a useful assessment tool for aggregating data about a large field.