BioProton: Biologically relevant dose for Proton Therapy Planning
Lead Research Organisation:
The University of Manchester
Department Name: School of Medical Sciences
Abstract
Oxygen plays an important role in life on earth. The air that we breathe provides cells with the oxygen required for energy production. This need for oxygen increases for cells that rapidly multiply such as those associated with cancer; however, the supply is limited. As a tumour increases in size not all parts will be located near to vessels carrying oxygen rich blood. This results in a reduction in the oxygen levels in cells located furthest away from the blood vessel. It has been shown that these cells with low levels of oxygen (termed hypoxic) are more resistant to damage from radiation than those that are well oxygenated. This is also known to be the case for irradiation with protons. In proton therapy, a beam of protons is fired at the tumour in order to destroy the DNA in the cancerous cells, thus killing the tumour. The amount of energy and number of protons required to achieve this is determined by the tumour volume. Currently in proton therapy the tumour is irradiated such that the whole tumour volume receives the same dose (energy deposited per unit mass). If, however, parts of the irradiated tumour are more resistant to the radiation than others this technique of delivering a uniform dose across the tumour volume is not optimal.
The research planned in this project aims to address this through the use of computer modelling and imaging to produce a method of increasing the dose to those low-oxygen radiation-resistant parts of the tumour whilst delivering an appropriately lower dose to the well oxygenated regions. This advancement will improve proton beam therapy and benefit any patient undergoing this form of cancer treatment. The benefits will include increased chance of survival and fewer side effects associated with the treatment
The research planned in this project aims to address this through the use of computer modelling and imaging to produce a method of increasing the dose to those low-oxygen radiation-resistant parts of the tumour whilst delivering an appropriately lower dose to the well oxygenated regions. This advancement will improve proton beam therapy and benefit any patient undergoing this form of cancer treatment. The benefits will include increased chance of survival and fewer side effects associated with the treatment
Planned Impact
Advances in imaging and computing technology mean that PBT is an area, which has been developing exponentially, and the global market is expected to exceed $3bn by 2030. Although the UK has adopted PBT rather later than some countries it is in a good position to exploit this technology due to the recent investment of >£250M by NHS-England. The new NHS PBT clinical facility due to open at the Christie in Manchester in 2018, offers access to "state of the art technology" through a dedicated research room, within the clinical facility, that will occupy the 4th gantry space. This will be used entirely for research (it will not treat patients) and has a beamline rather than a clinical gantry. PBT is still a new technology and while it already offers significant benefits, if it is to achieve its full potential and deliver maximum advantage to patients (in terms of survival and quality of life) a number of scientific and technological challenges need to be addressed. BioProton considers the most intractable and arguably the most important of these challenges: how to deliver protons effectively to the most radiation resistant parts of the tumour and how to biologically optimise the dose so that it sterilises the whole tumour and its margins while causing minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
This also opens a wealth of opportunities both to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients and develop new products, devices, software and services to benefit the UK economy and society. Through developing mathematical models which determine unique nano-dosimetric damage and repair parameters in hypoxic environments and imaging the tumour environment; BioProton offers the opportunity of biologically optimising the proton therapy plan and then delivering this plan using state of the art pencil beam scanning so the dose can be tailored to the tumour and weighted so that hypoxic, radiation resistant regions are given more dose. In this way more dose will be delivered to the tumour and resistant areas within it, while sparing the healthy tissue which surrounds it and minimising the dose to nearby sensitive organs at risk (OAR). Damage to normal tissue is normally the factor that limits the dose of radiation that can be used in radiotherapy. So reducing damage to normal tissue reduces both progressive side effects and the chances of secondary malignancies later in life. This is particularly important in children whose organs are more sensitive to radiation and because they are growing can experience severe side effects, which stay with them for life, if normal tissue damage is not minimised.
We believe that BioProton has the potential to deliver a paradigm change in PBT delivery and has been developed through an academic/clinical/industrial partnership. Working with Varian Medical we have already shown that we can incorporate nano-dosimetric parameters into their PBT planning system Eclipse. Don Whitley Scientific will help us develop the hypoxia cabinets needed to validate the models. By embedding BioProton in the clinical environment it will be informed by clinical priorities and its findings can be rapidly translated to the clinic through the translational elements of NIHR MBRC, CRUK MCRC and CRUK ART-NET grants. Our close working partnership with industry and NHS-England through the mentorship of Dr Crellin the national Clinical Lead for NHS-E Proton Therapy will ensure that BioProton is clinically focussed and has a route to policy makers in government. The existing EPSRC Network+ (EP/N027167) also facilitates this translation and our EU H2020 integrating activity INSPIRE widens the reach of the research as does our collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School in USA. Likewise the links to PPRIG and CTRad provide a route for dissemination to patients and consumers and the wider clinical community.
This also opens a wealth of opportunities both to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients and develop new products, devices, software and services to benefit the UK economy and society. Through developing mathematical models which determine unique nano-dosimetric damage and repair parameters in hypoxic environments and imaging the tumour environment; BioProton offers the opportunity of biologically optimising the proton therapy plan and then delivering this plan using state of the art pencil beam scanning so the dose can be tailored to the tumour and weighted so that hypoxic, radiation resistant regions are given more dose. In this way more dose will be delivered to the tumour and resistant areas within it, while sparing the healthy tissue which surrounds it and minimising the dose to nearby sensitive organs at risk (OAR). Damage to normal tissue is normally the factor that limits the dose of radiation that can be used in radiotherapy. So reducing damage to normal tissue reduces both progressive side effects and the chances of secondary malignancies later in life. This is particularly important in children whose organs are more sensitive to radiation and because they are growing can experience severe side effects, which stay with them for life, if normal tissue damage is not minimised.
We believe that BioProton has the potential to deliver a paradigm change in PBT delivery and has been developed through an academic/clinical/industrial partnership. Working with Varian Medical we have already shown that we can incorporate nano-dosimetric parameters into their PBT planning system Eclipse. Don Whitley Scientific will help us develop the hypoxia cabinets needed to validate the models. By embedding BioProton in the clinical environment it will be informed by clinical priorities and its findings can be rapidly translated to the clinic through the translational elements of NIHR MBRC, CRUK MCRC and CRUK ART-NET grants. Our close working partnership with industry and NHS-England through the mentorship of Dr Crellin the national Clinical Lead for NHS-E Proton Therapy will ensure that BioProton is clinically focussed and has a route to policy makers in government. The existing EPSRC Network+ (EP/N027167) also facilitates this translation and our EU H2020 integrating activity INSPIRE widens the reach of the research as does our collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School in USA. Likewise the links to PPRIG and CTRad provide a route for dissemination to patients and consumers and the wider clinical community.
Organisations
- The University of Manchester (Lead Research Organisation)
- Medical Research Council (Co-funder)
- Varian Inc (Collaboration)
- Kenes Group (Collaboration)
- Cancer Research UK (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- International Atomic Energy Agency (Collaboration)
- Science Museum Group (Collaboration)
- Varian Medical Systems (Project Partner)
- SigmaPhi (Project Partner)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (Project Partner)
- Don Whitley Scientific Ltd (Project Partner)
- NHS-England Proton Clinical Lead (Project Partner)
Publications

Biglin ER
(2019)
Preclinical dosimetry: exploring the use of small animal phantoms.
in Radiation oncology (London, England)

Burnet NG
(2020)
Proton beam therapy: perspectives on the National Health Service England clinical service and research programme.
in The British journal of radiology

Grevillot L
(2020)
Technical Note: GATE-RTion: a GATE/Geant4 release for clinical applications in scanned ion beam therapy.
in Medical physics


Hahn C
(2022)
Towards harmonizing clinical linear energy transfer (LET) reporting in proton radiotherapy: a European multi-centric study.
in Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden)


Heaven CJ
(2022)
The suitability of micronuclei as markers of relative biological effect.
in Mutagenesis

Henthorn N
(2020)
Mapping the Future of Particle Radiobiology in Europe: The INSPIRE Project
in Frontiers in Physics

Henthorn NT
(2019)
Clinically relevant nanodosimetric simulation of DNA damage complexity from photons and protons.
in RSC advances

Henthorn NT
(2023)
Proposing a Clinical Model for RBE Based on Proton Track-End Counts.
in International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
Title | Bragg peak glass |
Description | working with a glassblower on a glass sculpture to represent the Bragg peak |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | this will form a piece of artwork |
Description | Organised PTCOG 58 in 2019 which brought over 1350 people to Manchester and generated over £2.5M for the local economy First results of mechanistic models incorporated in to Eclipse treatment plans International inter-comparison of measurement of LET and how this can be incorporated in to treatment plans. This work has now been submitted for publication Anonymised patient data available from PBT patients treated overseas and at the Christie being made available for BioProton Hi-C data allows a new way of mapping DNA damage on to the genome, this is the first time that this has been done and is a new way of looking at chromosome aberations which is much more meaningful biologically. Hi-C paper now published in PLOS computational biology Hi-C now incorporated in to Topas-nBio open access hypoxia cabinet with integrated robotic arm now operational in PBT bioprep room, extensive quality assurance and dossimetry measurements undertaken. Dosimetry variations are comparable to that on the clinical system (<3%). Defined a master equation to ensure reproducibility of measurements. Developed a capability for ultra high dose rate (FLASH) delivery where the dosimetry is within 5% (comparable to the best achievable anywhere in the world). Conducted experiments with protons, FLASH protons under different oxygen tensions. Panels of cell lines have been studied. Results for individual cell lines are comparable under normoxia to the other study in this area. Working to look at impact of hypoxia on DNA damage and repair. These results will be refined using Plasmid studies (where there is no repair) under different oxygen tensions before going on to studies in panels of cell lines. Covid-19 has delayed PBT research room as the acceptance commissioning tests delayed and everything has to be done outside clinical hours. Covid restrictions in 2021 also impacted on the operation of the research room but not with the severity encountered in 2020. Tracy Underwood who led the imaging WP4 left in September 2021 to take up a post in industry. Her imaging studies had been severely impacted by Covid and she had also had a period of maternity leave. However we have developed a collaboration with Dr Andy Macpartlin in the clinical proton centre who specialises in the treatment of head and neck cancers. These are often tumours with regions of hypoxia. Andy with colleagues at the Christie was pioneering the use of OE-MRI to examine the proton and photon patients he treats at the Christie. In a pilot study of 20 patients we are working with him and using OE-MRI with FMisoPET imaging to assess the volume and location of the hypoxic regions in each tumour. This will feed in to WP5 of Bioproton where a Dr Sam Ingram (50% NHS clinical scientist in proton centre and 50% PDRA) will look at how we can use biologically augmented treatment planning (from WP1-3) to dose escalate and treat these hypoxic regions. sam's work will also use the OE-MRI, FMisoPET and CT to look for digital fingerprints of hypoxia in the CT scans using machine learning and AI techniques. Sam has just been awarded a Topol Digital Fellowship from Health Education England. These fellowships are awarded to support health professionals lead digital health transformations and innovations within their organisations. This is in response to The Topol Review, which the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care commissioned to provide guidance for the NHS to embrace emerging technologies such as genomics, digital medicine, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Sam's project will fit in the AI category and will be looking to clinically implement a machine learning model for the fast predictions of monte-carlo dose and linear-energy transfer in protons and fits in very well with the aims of Bioproton. Since BioProton was funded the area of ultra high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy has been attracting world-wide interest. As hypoxia is very strongly linked to FLASH this is a perfect compliment to BioProton. Through the work of a PhD student we have been studying the parameter space where FLASH operates. We have organised the world's first conference on FLASH radiotherapy and particle therapy. We planned to hold this in person in Vienna 1-3rd Dec 2021, but Covid made this impossible so we held it virtually. The conference attracted over 730 delegates from over 40 countries and the 2nd in the series will be held in Barcelona in 2022. 30 Nov - Dec 2nd. Took part in Science Museum's Cancer Revolution Exhibition this opened at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in October 2021 and transfers to Science Museum in London in March 2022. This work was also featured in The Guardian Dec 21 2021. |
Exploitation Route | biologically optimised treatment plans being developed working with the clinical teams on hypoxia imaging - with pilot study involving 20 patients International Conference FRPT work from BioProton now available in Topas nBio available Open source Science Musem Cancer Revolution Exhibition Work featured at GM cancer conference and NCRI annual meeting |
Sectors | Healthcare Government Democracy and Justice Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
URL | https://bioproton-uat.e3c.dev/ |
Description | POST note working with Science museum on new exhibit on PBT Cancer Revolution opened in Manchester in October 2021 and Transferring to London in 2022. This work was featured in The Guardian in Dec 21 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/cancer-revolutionaries/2021/dec/21/how-radiotherapy-became-a-lifesaver-from-x-rays-to-the-proton-beam PBT patient fact sheets with Brains Trust https://brainstrust.org.uk/brain-tumour-support/resources/downloads/pbt/ Meetings on development of UK PBT clinical trials TORPEDO, PARABLE, APPROACH. All of these trials have now been funded TORPEDO and a further trial PROTIS by CRUK. PARABLE and APPROACH by NIHR. PARABLE and PROTIS use biological augmented treatment planning from BioProton. Further trials being discussed framework agreement with varian looking at spinning out PBT research room end-stations and PBT research room. This has stalled due to Covid Development of a hypoxia cabinet with integrated robotic arm with Don Whitley Scientific. This is now complete and we are looking at an agreement with DWS if other groups wish to purchase BBC interview on FLASH radiotherapy work incorporated into NIH grant Topas n-Bio with MGH now available Open Source https://gray.mgh.harvard.edu/research/multi-scale-monte-carlo-modeling-lab/269-currently-under-development Developing relationship with IAEA on PBT Organised international conference on FLASH radiotherapy and particle therapy in 1-3 Dec 2021, over 730 people attended from over 40 countries International consensus on paper on LET and RBE paper published Working with clinicians and medical physicists at The Christie on how to implement outcomes of BioProton clinically Organised PTCOG58 in 2019 largest conference on particle therapy brought over 1350 people to Manchester from all over the world and generated £2.5M for local economy New patient cohort being imaged and results used in Bioproton and to inform future treatments Contributed to On cancer in 2021On Cancer is a new 44-page collection of research-led policy recommendations authored by academics from The University of Manchester, and The Christie which aim to highlight areas where research can inform policy changes and improve the lives of patients living with cancer. Started work with EMBRACE team on wearable devices, this involves clinicians from Manchester Foundation Trust and The Christie. A clinical trial has opened https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/trial-of-wearable-health-technology-for-cancer-patients-opens/ |
First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
Sector | Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic Policy & public services |
Description | Deputy Chair NCRI CTRad |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | CTrad is a national body that brings those involved in radiotherapy together. It has pioneered national proton clinical trials and has proposals guidance meetings that develop these national trials. It also develops a strategy for radiotherapy research |
URL | https://www.ncri.org.uk/groups/radiotherapy-group/ |
Description | Workstream 4 CoChair NCRI CTRad |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Impact | National body pioneering new developments in radiotherapy |
URL | https://www.ncri.org.uk/how-we-work/ctrad/ |
Description | Cockcroft Phase 4 Award |
Amount | £7,772,375 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Cockcroft phase 4 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 03/2025 |
Description | Improving preclinical proton radiation dosimetry using a biologically relevant murine dosimetry phantom |
Amount | £121,654 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NC/W002256/1 |
Organisation | National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2022 |
End | 01/2024 |
Description | Infrastructure in FLASH Radiotherapy |
Amount | £199,904 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RRNIA-Feb22\100002 |
Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2022 |
End | 05/2024 |
Description | Investigating Proton and Electron Flash in novel 3D cultures |
Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RRNIA-Feb22\100002 |
Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2022 |
End | 05/2023 |
Description | Manchester RADNET |
Amount | £16,500,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 09/2026 |
Description | Modelling anomalous transport of nanoparticles and DNA repair to improve radiotherapy |
Amount | £702,576 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/V008641 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Proton FLASH |
Amount | £227,974 (GBP) |
Organisation | Varian Inc |
Sector | Private |
Country | United States |
Start | 08/2019 |
End | 08/2021 |
Description | Topol Digital Fellowship |
Amount | £20,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Health Education England |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2022 |
End | 04/2023 |
Title | Proton Therapy Research room in the clinical PBT centre at the Christie |
Description | Research infrastructure to conduct research in proton therapy, funded by Christie Charity £5.6M. Over the past year we have been comissioning the research room and bioprep room. This has been slowed down due to Covid. first experiments March 2021 Experiments are now ongoing in the research room and the hypoxia cabinet with integrated robotic arm (designed with don Whitley Scientific) is now fully operational and performing high throughput experiments. Accurate QA and dosimetry < 3% comparable with clinical system achieved for protons. FLASH capability delivered, dosimetry <5% one of the best in the world. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The plan is to make this research infrastructure available via UKRI and CRUK grants. The facility has to pay its own costs so funding would need to be applied for via competitive grants. CRUK now funding research room through RadNet as a national proton hub and have just funded a national FLASH infrastructure. |
URL | https://protonsinspire.eu/facilities/the-christie-nhs-foundation-trust |
Title | A computational approach to quantifying miscounting of radiation-induced double-strand break immunofluorescent foci |
Description | Data set for the following work: A computational approach to quantifying miscounting of radiation-induced double-strand break immunofluorescent foci. Ingram et al., Commun Biology (2022). Please see Readme.txt for details on the file formats. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://figshare.manchester.ac.uk/articles/dataset/A_computational_approach_to_quantifying_miscounti... |
Title | Anonymisation of PBT overseas data and data from patients treated at The Christie with PBT |
Description | Means to access anonymised patient data from PBT patients treated overseas and at the Christie. This allows real patient data to be used to validate models developed in BioProton and other UKRI grants |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Means research outputs can be validated on real patient data |
Description | Association of Radiation Research in collaboration with CRUK RadNet 3 day meeting on Radiation Research Conference |
Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | ARR and CRUK |
Collaborator Contribution | The Network contributed a session to this conference on advanced radiotherapy technologies in particular those using heavier ions which brough STFC accelerator community together with CRUK oncologists and biologists and also integrated them with the CRUK RadNet funding initiative. It also brought in the wider ARR community and publicised the work of the Network. About 200 people attended this conference in June 2023. |
Impact | conference presentations new collaborations input in to RadNet2 applications |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Flash radiotherapy and Particle Therapy |
Organisation | Kenes Group |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Karen Kirkby has been involved in founding a new international conference series Flash Radiotherapy and Particle Therapy (FRPT) and also been involved in its organisation see https://2021.frpt-conference.org/ and for FRPT 2022 https://frpt-conference.org/. Prof Karen Kirkby being an organising committee member. FRPT 2021 was due to be held in Vienna, Austria however due to COVID-19 the event was delivered online using a virtual platform delivered by Kenes Group. The online audience was made up of over 700+ participants from over 40+ countries. The conference provided attendees with 3 days of scientific updates from international speakers, discussions, interactive sessions and virtual posters. The virtual platform allowed users to quickly transition from live sessions, recordings, workshops and symposiums, virtual tours of Med Auston and the online exhibition of supporters. After the conference the talks were available for 3 months on the virtual platform. FRPT 2022 was held in Barcelona as a hybrid conference. The conference gave scientific professionals the opportunity to meet in person to harness the potential for FLASH RT and learn latest advancements in this rapidly developing field. With over 650 delegates from 40 different countries attended in person and online with over 450 attending in person. Highlights from FRPT21 and FRPT22 can be found by clicking the links. The conference will continue annually with FRPT2023 due to be held as a hybrid event on 6-8th December in Toronto, Canada. FRPT 2022 was held in Barcelona as a hybrid conference. The conference gave scientific professionals the opportunity to meet in person to harness the potential for FLASH RT and learn latest advancements in this rapidly developing field. With over 650 delegates from 40 different countries attending in person and online. FRPT 2022 also hosted the Proton Knowledge Hub which focused on sharing best practices from across Europe on how to build and operate a proton centre. The Knowledge Hub was led by Prof Karen Kirkby, accompanied by a programme made up of field experts across leading proton centres including INSPIRE members Prof Ran Mackay from The Christie NHS FT, Prof Cai Grau from Aarhus University and Esther Troost from Dresden University of Technology. The conference will continue annually with FRPT2023 being held in Toronto December 2023. Again this attracted leaders in the field and was deemed by those attending to be a great sucess. the conference attracted over 650 participants from all over the world. |
Collaborator Contribution | Kenes as a PCO help to organise the conference and take on the financial risk |
Impact | Special Edition Green journal (Oncology and Radiotherapy) https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/radiotherapy-and-oncology/special-issue/107CWW5MB2F |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | IAEA PBT |
Organisation | International Atomic Energy Agency |
Country | Austria |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | international guidance on developing a PBT centre |
Collaborator Contribution | developing international guidance on training and workforce for governments or institutions wishing to develop a new PBT centre |
Impact | international guidance document being developed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Science Museum exhibition Cancer Revolution: Science Innovation and hope |
Organisation | Science Museum Group |
Department | The Science Museum |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | museum exhibition "The Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope" where the Proton Therapy Facility was displayed along with video media by Prof Karen Kirkby. This is a world-first exhibition at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester that navigates patient stories, cancer causes and treatments, and the future of facing cancer. This tale echoes the hope around the future of cancer outcomes for patients. It details the progress that has been made in prevention, diagnosis and treatment and the 'revolution' that now means more of us are living longer and better with cancer than ever before. The exhibition reached articles, news channels, newspapers and social medias. |
Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in museum exhibitions |
Impact | Museum exhibition open to general public |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Topas nBio |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Open access Topas-nBio software includes our research in the radiobiological gold standard |
Collaborator Contribution | Working together on joint projects and sharing research to incorporate in to Topas n-Bio |
Impact | Joint publications Joint abstract submission PTCOG, AAPM, FRPT New software release in Topas n-Bio |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Varian Framework agreement |
Organisation | Varian Inc |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | All IP through the Framework agreement belong to UoM / Christie but Varian have first refusal to exploit. Strong collaboration working on LET and RBE., FLASH RT |
Collaborator Contribution | Varian have provided access to latest versions of Eclipse software through T boxes (fair market value $75k). We can bid to Varian through Framework agreement for funding for projects. Amount shown is $1USD as actual amount is commercial in confidence. |
Impact | Publications Abstracts to international conferences Talks at Varian events https://www.varian.com/resources-support/blogs/clinical-oncology-news/industryacademic-partnership-yields-fruit-ultra-high?mkt_tok=NzYwLURaTy0xNTUAAAF_91-kFzOl1w84B0apMtXzvKu7hkm8hlShdATmyb5CxEAbXxpP-tODhdQBFJCIUOJjlEcMr2KiIyBxtUvfhhqVLZLQdSC9Rv-XXQFbD0DZaSk |
Start Year | 2019 |
Title | EMBRACE wearables clinical trial |
Description | wearables for real time monitoring of cancer patients. A new trial opens in Greater Manchester today which is to test cutting-edge wearable technologies involving patients who have received cancer treatment. The commercially-available health sensors and devices produce a digital fingerprint of vital signs that could allow doctors to assess the progress of their patients. Called, EMBRaCE, (Enhanced Monitoring for Better Recovery and Cancer Experience), the trial is a collaboration between Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester. The trial opens initially for blood cancer, lung, and colorectal cancer patients and will run across Greater Manchester. The technologies under investigation include: a smart ring, worn on any finger made by the company Oura the Withings ScanWatch, a hybrid smartwatch the Isansys system, which is worn on the chest. The technologies can assess a range of vital signs, including electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate, temperature, physical activity levels and sleep. |
Type | Diagnostic Tool - Non-Imaging |
Current Stage Of Development | Early clinical assessment |
Year Development Stage Completed | 2022 |
Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
Clinical Trial? | Yes |
UKCRN/ISCTN Identifier | N/A |
Impact | Real time monitoring of patients. Has the potential of producing digital fingerprints to allow personalisation of treatment Cancer places a huge burden on the lives of people everywhere. This study uses cutting-edge technology that can monitor people during their treatment, with devices that they can wear all the time. We hope that it will provide new insights into how people cope with cancer treatment and what we can do to improve their recovery." This trial will assess if the latest wearable technology has a role in cancer care. "It will help us to identify ways that clinical staff can individualise treatment before, during, and after therapy. "We will find out if 24/7 data from these wearable sensors can be used to support patient recovery and provide accurate measurement outside clinic. "It could even support the development of new cancer treatments by developing a digital platform for clinical trials in cancer involving wearable devices or fitness trackers." |
URL | https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/trial-of-wearable-health-technology-for-cancer-patients-o... |
Title | PARABLE Clinical Trial |
Description | randomised Proton therapy clinical trial for breast cancer patients |
Type | Therapeutic Intervention - Radiotherapy |
Current Stage Of Development | Late clinical evaluation |
Year Development Stage Completed | 2022 |
Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
Clinical Trial? | Yes |
Impact | Bioproton is being used for the biologically augmented treatment planning in this trial |
Title | RCT TORPEDO |
Description | TORPEO RCT has been developed and is funded by CRUK, it started recruiting patients in Feb 2020 then paused due to Covid-19 and resumed again in late 2020 |
Type | Therapeutic Intervention - Radiotherapy |
Current Stage Of Development | Refinement. Clinical |
Year Development Stage Completed | 2022 |
Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
Clinical Trial? | Yes |
Impact | First UK RCT in PBT |
URL | https://www.ncri.org.uk/ncri-blog/the-journey-of-torpedo-the-uks-first-proton-beam-therapy-clinical-... |
Title | Topas nBio |
Description | Since the open-source beta-release of TOPAS-nBio in 2019, the framework offers to connect energy deposition within irradiated cells (physics) via molecular reactions (chemistry) to cell kill/repair (biology) at the level of sub-cellular targets such as DNA. To facilitate the setup of simulations we further developed a Graphical User (GUI) Interface. TOPAS-nBio is an extension to TOPAS and layered on top of the Geant4/Geant4-DNA MC toolkit. The new release was built for TOPAS release 3.6 (based on Geant4.10.6.p3) and will be compatible with all future releases of TOPAS. First release in 2019 but our models incorporated 2020 onwards |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | The new features of TOPAS-nBio v1.0, offers improved modeling from initial DNA damage to cell outcome, Gold standard for radiobiology research |
URL | https://topas-nbio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting-started/Members.html |
Description | Article in the Guardian newspaper Dec 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | How radiotherapy became a lifesaver, advances in radiotherapy https://www.theguardian.com/cancer-revolutionaries/2021/dec/21/how-radiotherapy-became-a-lifesaver-from-x-rays-to-the-proton-beam |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.theguardian.com/cancer-revolutionaries/2021/dec/21/how-radiotherapy-became-a-lifesaver-f... |
Description | BBC interview of FLASH radiotherapy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | media interview for BBC on Flash proton therapy as part of CRUK RADNET launch https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-50289393 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.manchesterbrc.nihr.ac.uk/news-and-events/manchester-scientists-lead-way-next-generation-... |
Description | Christie Proton School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The proton therapy group have worked with the Christie clinical teams to deliver the proton School online order to reach the largest international audience. The vision is to be an international educator in Proton Therapy. They have recently delivered the 4th course in December 2022. This course has successfully run from 2019-2022. Now called The Christie Proton Therapy e-School, the course is set to continue annually with, which is held over 6 weeks of learning. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021,2022 |
URL | https://www.christie.nhs.uk/education/departments/the-christie-proton-school |
Description | Film on proton therapy for GM cancer conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Film "what we have achieved in the last 12 months" which was shown during GM cancer conference. I also spoke at this conference |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://gmcancer.org.uk/greater-manchester-cancer-conference-2019/ |
Description | Flash radiotherapy and Particle Therapy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Development of a new international conference on FLASH in Dec 2021 with PCO Kenes and leading international reserchers. This conference was very successful and attracted over 730 people from 40 countries the 2nd in the series will be held in Barcelona Nov 30-Dec 2nd 2022. the top 15 papers will be published in The Green Journal with further papers in Physica Medica where the abstracts will also be published |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
URL | https://frpt-conference.org/ |
Description | On cancer UoM and The Christie |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | On Cancer is a new 44-page collection of research-led policy recommendations authored by academics from The University of Manchester, and The Christie which aim to highlight areas where research can inform policy changes and improve the lives of patients living with cancer. It is a collaboration between the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, the Cancer Beacon, and the Policy@Manchester team at The University of Manchester and involves the thoughts and research activities of four CRUK RadNet Manchester affiliated radiotherapy researchers. Specific relevant examples included in On Cancer relate to work by Professor Karen Kirkby and Professor Ananya Choudhury (Advanced radiotherapies: what are the challenges and opportunities). Here, Ananya and Karen argue that researchers need to work with policymakers to produce a cost-benefit analysis of MR-Linac and Proton Beam Therapies and engage with leadership to determine opportunities for informed and enhance patient consent. As the recommendations have only been recently published, direct influence on policy is still unknown. The authors involved are all committed to helping to promote the activities of the articles further, and we are continuing to work with Policy@Manchester a team dedicated to connecting policymakers and researchers to further expand on these recommendations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | One day workshop on FLASH radiotherapy: Transforming Radiotherapy in a FLASH |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | One day workshop organised with NCRI CTRad to inform UK researchers about Flash radiotherapy |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transforming-radiotherapy-in-a-flash-tickets-84136780375# |
Description | POST Note |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | POST note for members of the House of commons and Lords Advances in Cancer Treatment |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/POST-PN-0598 |
Description | PTCOG 58 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Largest conference ever held on particle therapy attracted over 1355 people to a 5.5 day event in Manchester and contributed over 2.5M to the local economy |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://ptcog58.org/ |
Description | Science Museum Cancer Revolution Science, Innovation and Hope |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The group have been involved in an exhibition at the Science Museum exhibition "The Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope" where the Proton Therapy Facility was displayed along with video media by Prof Karen Kirkby. This is a world-first exhibition at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester that navigates patient stories, cancer causes and treatments, and the future of facing cancer. This tale echoes the hope around the future of cancer outcomes for patients. It details the progress that has been made in prevention, diagnosis and treatment and the 'revolution' that now means more of us are living longer and better with cancer than ever before. The exhibition reached articles, news channels, newspapers and social medias. The exhibition ended at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on 27 March 2022. It then moved on to be displayed at the Science Museum in London from 25 May 2022 - January 2023. For more information, visit the Science Museum website. The link to the YouTube video that appears in the Science Museum exhibition can be found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3djsGItc_M |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/cancer-revolution-science-innovation-and-hope |
Description | Talks for GM Cancer |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | GM cancer conference talking about proton therapy link to the new PRECISE YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTAyoUeLIYQu5Gokqle4-Pg/featured And to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2QR4PQvaeI |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2QR4PQvaeI |
Description | You tube channel |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | You tube channel to promote research |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTAyoUeLIYQu5Gokqle4-Pg/featured |
Description | radiotherapy and me |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
Results and Impact | event to listen to patients experience of radiotherapy |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://publicprogrammes.co.uk/radiotherapy-and-me |