Multimodality Techniques for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

Many of the key opportunities that currently exist for improving the diagnosis and treatment of cancer are cross-disciplinary. Imaging now crucially underpins all therapeutic procedures. The Joint Department of Physics has developed and implemented methods for accurately delivering different radiation therapies to tumours using CT, Magnetic Resonance (MR) and/or ultrasound (US) imaging, but the use of emerging molecular imaging techniques (such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET), functional MR, US and optoacoustic imaging) will give us the opportunity to define targets according to biochemical or metabolic function. A major challenge in therapeutics is organ motion: here, for example, we are developing methods for pre-treatment modelling using MR, real-time US and intelligent x-ray tracking to guide radio- and US therapy. There are significant challenges in developing cross-disciplinary projects. These include training and retention of staff with the key combination of skills in imaging physics, therapy and clinical application, and the development of specialist multi-modality equipment, molecular imaging probes and histological techniques to support pilot studies. For example, satisfying the needs of both x-ray imaging and MR compatibility, can be challenging. A particular challenge in this sector is the translation of laboratory research to a stage where it may be tested in clinical trials. We are uniquely placed for addressing these. Platform funding will help us to retain researchers with the highly specialist key skills, to fund the pilot work for multi-modality applications and to allow translation of research results to a stage where they are ready for exploitation either in our clinics or by collaboration with industry.

The beneficiaries of the work proposed under this Platform Grant will be cancer patients, their carers and relatives, and the Healthcare Sector: both the UK National Heath Service (NHS) and a range of companies within the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Our research groups at The Institute of Cancer Research are based within, and work in close collaboration with, the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust (RMH). They are thus ideally placed to translate laboratory research to a stage where it may be tested in clinical trials by the NHS. The platform funding requested is to be used in large part to meet this challenge, by funding pilot work and by helping us to retain researchers with the highly specialist key skills required. This funding is often very hard to find via traditional project grants. The direct beneficiaries of this work will clearly be cancer patients, with the NHS benefiting from the use of new improved technologies and more efficient diagnosis and treatment. The major beneficiaries of the proposed work, which crosses traditional boundaries between imaging and treatment modalities, will initially be industrial partners and collaborators, who will develop and market the next generation of instrumentation and pharmaceuticals arising from these innovative projects. This will in turn provide the means for dissemination of the technologies to other hospitals, permitting more extensive clinical trials and applications, increasing the benefit to patients, carers, relatives and the NHS. We will use platform funding to strengthen our international and national academic and university/hospital collaborations by short-term exchange of personnel to obtain and disseminate leading-edge expertise. We have an established track record of working with industry, from early-stage research through sponsored studentships and collaborative research agreements, beta-testing and first clinical evaluation of new equipment, to licensing of intellectual property and technology transfer. Team leaders will continue to take the lead in developing and maintaining appropriate industrial collaborations. This will often take place in partnership with the RMH, for example in the development and clinical testing of state-of-the-art clinical equipment. Collaborative research agreements, IP protection and technology transfer are managed by the Institute's Enterprise Unit, which again has a proven track record of working with companies of all sizes, and setting up our own spin-out companies. The Institute of Cancer Research has a commitment to the widest dissemination of its research results, both in the scientific literature, and to the general public. Our annual report and annual departmental research reports are published on our public web site. Direct communication with cancer patients is most appropriately managed in partnership with the NHS and charitable research funding organisations such as CRUK. We will continue to disseminate our results to the general public through the Institute's Interactive Education Unit and the professional science writers within the Institute's Press Office. Younger staff members are encouraged and supported to become science ambassadors in local schools and our Department will continue to host visits from local school 6th forms, presenting education both about cancer and about career opportunities in research and in the NHS. Platform funding with help us to continue with this work. PhD students and post-doctoral fellows will be given the opportunity to attend science communication courses organised in-house using national experts. Provision of trained personnel to the NHS and industry is another of our Institute's major contributions. Finally, many of our senior staff are actively engaged in national and international consultative, policy-making and standard-setting committees.