Visualized Analysis of Heavy Ion Radiotherapy: Development, Barriers and Future Directions

211At on gold nanoparticles for targeted radionuclide therapy application

Targeted alpha therapy (TAT) is a methodology that is being developed as a promising cancer treatment using the α-particle decay of radionuclides. This technique involves the use of heavy radioactive elements being placed near the cancer target area to cause maximum damage to the cancer cells while minimizing the damage to healthy cells. Using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as carriers, a more effective therapy methodology may be realized. AuNPs can be good candidates for transporting these radionuclides to the vicinity of the cancer cells since they can be labeled not just with the radionuclides, but also a host of other proteins and ligands to target these cells and serve as additional treatment options. Research has shown that astatine and iodine are capable of adsorbing onto the surface of gold, creating a covalent bond that is quite stable for use in experiments. However, there are still many challenges that lie ahead in this area, whether they be theoretical, experimental, and even in real-life applications. This review will cover some of the major developments, as well as the current state of technology, and the problems that need to be tackled as this research topic moves along to maturity. The hope is that with more workers joining the field, we can make a positive impact on society, in addition to bringing improvement and more knowledge to science.

Application of deep learning in radiation therapy for cancer

In recent years, with the development of artificial intelligence, deep learning has been gradually applied to clinical treatment and research. It has also found its way into the applications in radiotherapy, a crucial method for cancer treatment. This study summarizes the commonly used and latest deep learning algorithms (including transformer, and diffusion models), introduces the workflow of different radiotherapy, and illustrates the application of different algorithms in different radiotherapy modules, as well as the defects and challenges of deep learning in the field of radiotherapy, so as to provide some help for the development of automatic radiotherapy for cancer.

TLR4 Agonist MPLA Ameliorates Heavy-Ion Radiation Damage via Regulating DNA Damage Repair and Apoptosis

Heavy-ion radiation received during radiotherapy as well as the heavy-ion radiation received during space flight are equally considered harmful. Our previous study showed that TLR4 low toxic agonist, monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA), alleviated radiation injury resulting from exposure to low-LET radiation. However, the role and mechanism of MPLA in heavy-ion-radiation injury are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of MPLA on radiation damage. Our data showed that MPLA treatment alleviated the heavy-ion-induced damage to microstructure and the spleen and testis indexes. The number of karyocytes in the bone marrow from the MPLA-treated group was higher than that in the irradiated group. Meanwhile, western blotting analysis of intestine proteins showed that pro-apoptotic proteins (cleaved-caspase3 and Bax) were downregulated while anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2) were upregulated in the MPLA-treated group. Our in vitro study demonstrated that MPLA significantly improved cell proliferation and inhibited cell apoptosis after irradiation. Moreover, immunofluorescence staining and quantification of nucleic γ-H2AX and 53BP1 foci also suggested that MPLA significantly attenuated cellular DNA damage repair. Collectively, the above evidence supports the potential ability of MPLA to protect against heavy-ion-radiation injury by inhibiting apoptosis and alleviating DNA damage in vivo and vitro, which could be a promising medical countermeasure for the prevention of heavy-ion-radiation injury.

Visual analysis of image-guided radiation therapy based on bibliometrics: A review

Radiation therapy plays an important role in tumor treatment. The development of image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) technology provides a strong guarantee for precise radiation therapy of tumors. However, bibliometric studies on IGRT research have rarely been reported. This study uses literature collected from the Web of Science during 1987 to 2021 as a sample and uses the bibliometric method to reveal the current research status, hotspots, and development trends in IGRT. Based on 6407 papers published from the Web of Science during 1987 to 2021, we utilized Microsoft Excel 2007 and cite space software to perform statistical analysis and visualization of IGRT. A total of 6407 articles were included, this area of IGRT has gone through 4 stages: budding period, growth period, outbreak period, and stationary period. The research category is mainly distributed in Radiology Nuclear Medicine Medical Imaging, which intersects with the research categories of Materials, Physics, and Mathematics. Yin FF, Tanderup K, and Sonke JJ are highly productive scholars who are active in IGRT research, while Jaffray DA, van Herk M and Guckenberger M are authors with high impact in this field. The team of scholars has close cooperation within the team and weak cooperation among teams. The League of European Research Universities, University of Texas System, University of Toronto, and Princess Margaret Cancer are the main research institutions in this field. The United States has the most research literature, followed by China and Germany. Six thousand four hundred seven articles are distributed in 712 journals, and the top 3 journals are Med Phys, Int J Radiat Oncol, and Radiather Oncol. Precise registration, intelligence, magnetic resonance guidance, and deep learning are current research hotspots. These results demonstrate that the research in this field is relatively mature and fruitful in the past 35 years, providing a solid theoretical basis and practical experience for precision radiotherapy.

Evolutions in the management of non-small cell lung cancer: A bibliometric study from the 100 most impactful articles in the field

Objective

The study was designed to explore the evolution of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) management in the last 20 years.

Methods

The top 100 most-cited papers on NSCLC treatment were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. R and VOSviewer were used to extract bibliographic information, including the year of publication, countries/regions, institutions, authors, journals, keywords, impact factor, and total citations. The topic and type of papers were checked independently by authors. Bibliometric analysis was conducted and visualized with R, CiteSpace, Excel and VOSviewer to identify output dynamics, research forces, topics, hotspots, and frontiers in the field.

Results

The average citation of each retrieved top 100 most-cited NSCLC management papers was 1,725 (range: 615-7,340). Fifty-seven corresponding authors were from the United States. This country contributed the most papers (n=76), followed by Germany (n=34), France (n=33), and South Korea (n=32). The top contributors were Paz-Ares L. (n=12) and Reck M. (n=12). The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center published the largest number of papers (n=20). There were two significant citation paths, indicating publications in medicine/medical/clinical journals primarily cited journals in molecular/biology/genetics fields, partly cited health/nursing/medicine fields. Top-cited papers mainly came from the New England Journal of Medicine (n=33, citations=80,427), followed closely by the Journal of Clinical Oncology (n=28, citations=32,408). “Chemotherapy” (n=36) was the keyword with the greatest frequency of co-occurrence. “Open-label” was the keyword with the strongest burst strength (=4.01), followed by “nivolumab” (=3.85), “blockade” (=2.86), and “efficacy” (=2.85).

Conclusions

The United States as a nation and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as an institute contributed the most to this field. The New England Journal of Medicine is the most eye-catching journal. Hotspots of NSCLC management have almost undergone an evolution from chemotherapy and radiotherapy to targeted therapy to immunotherapy. Molecular/biological/genetic fields become the main research base for NSCLC treatment. Immunotherapy and combination therapy are research frontiers.