Exploring the effects of FLASH radiation on pancreatic cancer tumours

The challenge

Radiotherapy is often used to treat pancreatic cancer, either on its own or in combination with chemotherapy. Radiotherapy works by using radiation to destroy cancer cells. Ultra-high dose radiation, also called FLASH radiation, is a new type of radiation therapy that has the potential to treat tumours much faster than standard radiotherapy. It also has the additional benefit that it appears to cause less damage to surrounding normal tissues, meaning that there may be fewer side effects from treatment.

FLASH radiation could become a promising new treatment option for pancreatic cancer, however first we need to understand more about how it works and why normal tissues seem to escape damage.

The project

In this project, Dr Moon and her team will carry out detailed studies of the biological effects of FLASH radiation on pancreatic cancer tumours. They will investigate how FLASH radiation affects cancer cells and immune cells within the tumour, as well as how it impacts the normal cells that surround the tumour.

In their experiments, the research team will examine samples of pancreatic cancer tumour tissue as well as surrounding tissues taken at different timepoints after treatment with either FLASH radiation or conventional radiotherapy. They will look for changes to the cells caused by the radiation and study the differences between tumours treated with FLASH radiation and standard radiotherapy.

The hope

Through this project, Dr Moon and the team hope to find out more about how FLASH radiation works and why it reduces normal tissue damage. Understanding the biology behind the effects of this new type of radiation are key to understanding whether FLASH radiation could become an effective new treatment for pancreatic cancer.

This research project has the potential to lay the groundwork for future studies that could ultimately offer a new, kinder and more effective treatment for pancreatic cancer.