Descrizione del progetto
Migliorare l’esito della radioterapia
La radioterapia per il cancro è limitata dalla tolleranza dei tessuti normali alle dosi, pertanto sussiste la necessità di sviluppare approcci per incrementare la resistenza di tali tessuti. Il progetto PROTONMBRT, finanziato dall’UE, ha sviluppato una tecnica di radioterapia a minifascio di protoni che combina protoni per la radioterapia, dimensioni di campo inferiori submillimetriche e un frazionamento spaziale delle dosi. I ricercatori verificheranno l’indice terapeutico di questa terapia in tumori radioresistenti e svilupperanno una serie completa di strumenti di dosimetria per l’applicazione clinica. Particolare attenzione verrà dedicata alla scoperta dei meccanismi biologici coinvolti e alla ricerca dei parametri fisici che massimizzano l’indice terapeutico per i tumori radioresistenti, come i gliomi di alto grado.
Obiettivo
Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the most frequently used methods for cancer treatment (above 50% of patients will receive RT). Despite remarkable advancements, the dose tolerances of normal tissues continue to be the main limitation in RT. Finding novel approaches that allow increasing normal tissue resistance is of utmost importance. This would make it possible to escalate tumour dose, resulting in an improvement in cure rate. With this aim, I propose a new approach, called proton minibeam radiation therapy (PROTONMBRT), which combines the prominent advantages of protons for RT and the remarkable tissue preservation provided by the use of submillimetric field sizes and a spatial fractionation of the dose, as in minibeam radiation therapy (MBRT). The main objectives of this project are to explore the gain of therapeutic index for radioresistant tumors, to disentangle the biological mechanisms involved and to evaluate the clinical potential of this novel approach. For this purpose, a method for minibeam generation adequate for patient treatments and a complete set of dosimetric tools will be developed. Then, tumour control effectiveness will be evaluated, and the possible biological mechanisms involved both in tumour and normal tissue responses will be disentangled. The gain in normal tissue recovery can foster one of the main applications of proton therapy, paediatric oncology, as well as open the door to an effective treatment of very radioresistant tumours, such as high-grade gliomas, which are currently mostly treated palliatively.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantIstituzione ospitante
15782 Santiago De Compostela
Spagna