Some of the world’s most sophisticated computer programmes are being pressed into service to help improve the safety and effectiveness of radiotherapy treatments for cancer, it was announced today.
Some 1,500 are to take part in testing of new systems aimed at making radiotherapy more accurate.
The patients will have cancers of the prostate, head and neck and central nervous system.
Researchers are using technology developed at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory for CERN, the European particle physics laboratory.
They hope to develop ways of monitoring in real time dosages of radiation delivered to healthy tissues in a project known as VoxTox.
The researchers say that one of the problems is that internal organs can move during treatments.
Researcher Professor Neil Burnet, of Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK, said: “The new software we’re developing will help tailor radiotherapy to the individual, minimising the side effects patients experience after treatment.
"This is particularly crucial for prostate, brain and head and neck cancers, which have important parts of the body nearby that could easily be damaged."
He added: "The most sophisticated radiotherapy machines aim to minimise damage to the surrounding tissues by using daily imaging combined with a type of 3D radiotherapy, called intensity-modulated radiotherapy, which helps shape the radiotherapy beam to the tumour.
"But even these rely on still images of patients’ internal organs and, until now, there’s been no way of monitoring in real time the actual dose to the surrounding tissues."
Dr David Scott, of Cancer Research UK, said: "This is a great example of how drawing on scientists from different disciplines – in this case particle physics and engineering – can bring about unparalleled progress in cancer treatment.
"Radiotherapy forms a critical part of treatment for around half of all cancer patients, so it’s vital we find ways of targeting tumours more precisely to limit the damage that can lead to long term side effects."
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