Radiation as an Immune Catalyst: Techniques, Biology and Biomaterials for Enhancing Tumor Control

Increasing evidence has demonstrated the importance of immunomodulation on tumor control. Radiotherapy, specifically, can produce a multitude of local and systemic immunomodulatory effects, including reprogramming the tumor microenvironment and exposing tumor antigens via in situ vaccination. The benefit of in situ vaccination (versus exogenous vaccination strategies) is that it can produce a more diverse, yet specific, tumor-specific T-cell response, thereby resulting in distant, regional, and local tumor effects. Many challenges exist to its widespread success in the clinic [1-6], including spatiotemporal factors; tumor type-specific responses; sequence between radiotherapy, systemic therapy, and/or surgery; radiation dose, type, and/or fractionation; balance between immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive effects; and patient-specific factors. Immunotherapy is not without toxicity, and inert radiotherapy materials such as “smart radiotherapy biomaterials” (SRBs) may function as promising radiosensitizers, immunoadjuvants, and/or drug delivery vehicles to generate an in-situ vaccine [7, 8]. Biomarkers and radiomics are therefore being explored to predict a person’s individual response to radiation-induced in situ vaccination, thereby personalizing this therapy and increasing the likelihood of a favorable response[9-11]. This session explores techniques to enhance radiostimulatory effects on tumor control, as well as presents current modalities to assess the response in a patient.


Topics:

  1. Overview of Radiation-induced in situ Vaccination to Trigger Tumor-specific Immunity, and How to Swing the Pendulum in Favor of a Radiostimulatory Effect
    Sayeda Yasmin-Karim, MD, PhD
  2. Biologic Consequences of Radiation Techniques on Tumor Immunoactivation and Immunosuppression
    James W. Welsh, MD
  3. Role of Smart Radiotherapy Biomaterials (SRBs) for Image-guided Radiosensitization, Tumor Microenvironment Targeting, and Enhanced Tumor Immunogenicity
    Wilfred Ngwa, PhD, MS
  4. Q and A
    Zachary Scott Morris, MD, PhD – Moderator
    Full Panel

This activity is available from May 5, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 4, 2028. 

The content was originally presented and recorded at the 2025 ASTRO Annual Meeting.

Target Audience

The activity is designed to meet the interests of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiation biologists and residents.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

  • Describe the immunomodulatory effects of radiation on the tumor microenvironment. local immune response, and distant sites, and mechanisms to promote an immunostimulatory effect in a patient.
  • Define how smart radiotherapy biomaterials (SRBs) can be used for image guidance, tumor microenvironment targeting, and radiation-induced in situ vaccination.  
  • Identify biomarker and radiomic signals that can be employed to assess and predict the response to radiation-induced in situ vaccination.  
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™

    The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education for physicians. ASTRO designates this Enduring material for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  • 1.25 Certificate of Attendance
    This activity was designated for 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
Course opens: 
05/05/2026
Course expires: 
05/04/2028
Cost:
$149.00
Rating: 
0

Moderator:  

  • Zachary Scott Morris, MD, PhD, is employed by University of Wisconsin. Dr. Morris receives compensation/payment from Archeus Technologies, Cali Biomedical, Johnson & Johnson and Seneca Therapeutics. Dr. Morris receives grant/research funding from Point Biopharma and Telix Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Morris receives honoraria and travel expenses from Northstar Medical Radioisotopes and owns stock options in Archeus Technologies and Seneca Therapeutics. 

Speakers: 

  • Sayeda Yasmin-Karim, MD, PhD, is employed by Harvard Medical School. Dr. Yasmin-Karim has no relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies to disclose. 
  • James W. Welsh, MD, is employed by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Welsh receives grant/research funding from Artidis, Bayer Healthcare, BMS, Gilead, Genentech, Alkermes, Hotspot Therapeutics, Kiromic, Takeda, Varian, Nanobiotix, Novocure, Pebble Life Science and Sciclone. Dr. Welsh receives compensation/payment from Alpine Immune Sciences, Nanobiotix and Novocure. Dr. Welsh is the founder of Oligo Immune and serves an uncompensated role with the company. Dr. Welsh has limited liability company interest and is owner of DV8. 
  • Wilfred Ngwa, PhD, MS, is employed by Johns Hopkins University and Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Dr. Ngwa has no relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies to disclose. 

Planners: 

  • Malcolm Mattes, MD is employed at Rutgers Cancer Institute. Dr. Mattes received research/grant funding from Gilead Sciences (relationship ended 8/30/2025). Dr. Mattes has no relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies. 
  • Parul Barry, MD, is employed by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Barry has no relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies. 
  • Michael Haddock, MD, is employed by Mayo Clinic and has no relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies to disclose.
  • Manisha Palta, MD, is employed by Duke Cancer Center and Duke University Hospital. Dr. Palta receives grant/research funding from Merck and Varian Medical Systems. 
  • Salma Jabbour, MD, is employed by Rutgers Cancer Institute. Dr. Jabbour receives grant/research funding from Merck & Co., Inc. and Beigene. Dr. Jabbour receives compensation/payment as a consultant with Radialogica and IMX Medical. 

All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Available Credit

  • 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™

    The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education for physicians. ASTRO designates this Enduring material for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  • 1.25 Certificate of Attendance
    This activity was designated for 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.

Price

Cost:
$149.00
Please login or register to take this course.

Course Fees:
ASTRO members must log in to the ASTRO website to view and receive the member rate.

  • Nonmember: $149
  • Member: $99
  • Member-in-Training: $49
  • Student/Graduate Student/PGY-1 Member: $49
  • Postdoctoral Fellow Member: $49

If you are an ASTRO member from a low or lower-middle income country, as identified by the World Bank, you can receive a 50% discount off your corresponding registration for this activity. Please email [email protected] to inquire about the discount.

Policies:
No refunds, extensions, or substitutions will be made for those participants who, for any reason, have not completed the activity by the expiration date. 

Participants using ASTRO Academy activities to satisfy the requirement of a Continuing Certification (MOC) program should verify the credit number and type and availability dates of any activity before making a purchase. No refunds, extensions, or substitutions will be made for participants who have purchased activities that do not align with their MOC requirement.

The activity and its materials will only be available on the ASTRO website until May 4, 2028, regardless of purchase date. At the expiration of the activity, participants will no longer have access to the activity or its materials. ASTRO reserves the right to remove an activity before its expiration date. 

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