Augmentation of the EPR effect by mild hyperthermia to improve nanoparticle delivery to the tumor.

The clinical translation of the nanoparticle (NP)-based anticancer therapies is still unsatisfactory due to the heterogeneity of the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Despite the promising preclinical outcome of the pharmacological EPR enhancers, their systemic toxicity can limit their clinical application. Hyperthermia (HT) presents an efficient tool to augment the EPR by improving tumor blood flow (TBF) and vascular permeability, lowering interstitial fluid pressure (IFP), and disrupting the structure of the extracellular matrix (ECM).

Covid-19 vaccines elicit effective IgG responses in an elderly thymus cancer patient with chemotherapy.

The rising need for repeated booster vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 infections raises the question of whether chronic immunosuppressive chemotherapies influence the efficacy of vaccination. Here, we present the case of a 70-year-old post-thymoma surgery patient who received Vepesid (etoposide, Xediton Pharmaceuticals Inc) chemotherapy for six months before vaccination with Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine). The first two vaccinations elicited only minimal increases of IgG antibodies specific against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) on the spike protein (S1), while the third vaccination was effective in providing high, slowly subsiding antibody titers over a 7-month period.