Global Challenge Network+ in Advanced Radiotherapy

In the UK one in two people are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes and of those who survive 40% can attribute their cure to treatment including radiotherapy. After surgery, radiotherapy is the most effective cure for cancer in the UK.
The basic tenet of radiotherapy is to maximise the damage to the tumour (to sterilise it) while minimising the damage to the surrounding healthy tissue (to reduce side effects). In recent years radiotherapy has developed rapidly with the development of new machines and methodologies. These in turn, have resulted in better imaging, treatment planning and dosimetry, which enable the dose to be more accurately delivered and conformed to the tumour. They have also thrown up a range of interesting new challenges and issues all of which require innovation and solutions. This is exactly where the STFC community could make an enormous impact as they have exactly the skill set which is needed to effectively tackle the new challenges as they arise. This also brings in the expertise from CERN, which could prove invaluable for overcoming some of the imaging challenges in radiotherapy. In addition, the latest developments in radiotherapy - such as MR-linacs and proton therapy - evidence the need for the community to work together with commercial partners. If the UK is to remain competitive and deliver even better treatments for patients, and produce income and impact for the UK economy, it can no longer rely on serendipitous partnerships. This is what this Global Challenge Network+ in Advanced Radiotherapy seeks to address. This Network is aimed at creating a paradigm shift in the way in which radiotherapy research is undertaken and will create a pipeline, which directly translates into patient benefit and quality of life. It will catalyse new multidisciplinary partnerships between the clinical and STFC communities and provide radical and innovative solutions, which draw on the strengths and knowledge of the individual disciplines and weave them together to transcend traditional discipline boundaries, with the sum being greater than the constituent parts.
This is a particularly exciting time to launch this network, with the NHS investment of £250m into two new centres for proton therapy at the Christie Hospital in Manchester and University College London Hospital in London and the recent funding by HEFCE of the Institute for Precision Cancer Medicine in Oxford. These clinical developments should act as a launch pad for multidisciplinary research collaborations in radiotherapy and develop strong links between the clinical and academic communities in STFC laboratories and universities.
This Network will bring together cancer clinicians, clinical scientists and researchers from the biosciences with researchers from the STFC community in areas as diverse as particle and astrophysics, nuclear science, accelerator science, imaging, computational science and detectors to develop a research pipeline and contribute to a coordinated national plan and roadmap for advanced radiotherapy research across the UK. This is particularly timely and will strengthen the links between clinical radiotherapy and STFC scientists in both national laboratories and universities and is aligned with STFC Futures Programme, in particular the Healthcare Theme.
This Global Challenge Network+ in Advanced Radiotherapy aims to work in partnership with the National Cancer Research Institute CTRad (Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group) engage the wider STFC funded capability (to encompass nuclear physics, particle physics and astronomy) in both the STFC national laboratories (ALICE, DIAMOND, ISIS, VELA/CLARA) and universities and to draw on the STFC experience and expertise within them. In doing so it aims to engage across the remit of STFC activities and aid their translation into the clinical environment.

This Network+ designed to bring the clinical radiotherapy and STFC communities together, to develop synergies and research collaboration. The main impact of this Network+ will be in its benefits to patients and translating research out of the laboratory towards patient benefit. There will also be benefits through collaboration for the private sector, generating income for the UK economy and society. The ultimate aim will be better treatment and better patient outcomes, achieved by bringing together a wide-ranging and multidisciplinary community and pump-priming collaborations. Moreover, it will produce a vibrant energised community who will actively work together and start to train the next generation to do the same. The impact of the Network+ will be measured in terms of its impact on its stakeholders in the public and private sectors as well as in the academic community. For advanced radiotherapy there is often a close working relationship between academia, NHS and equipment suppliers. This can prove to be mutually beneficial and can result in patents, licensing agreements or spin out companies. The Network will build on these strong existing relationships and will aim to take research developed within the Network up the technology readiness levels.
Academic impact will be realised through joint grant applications and research outputs. It will also be realised through the PhD students funded via the Network+. The sandpit events funded through the Network will pump-prime grant applications and collaborations.
Patient representatives will be involved in ARN+ through close collaboration with CTRad, they will sit on the Advisory Group and Steering Committee to ensure that the patient voice and views are represented in ARN+.
Industrial involvement will be realised through an industry day and close collaboration and involvement in all Network activities. Knowledge Exchange will be facilitated by a number of the Network activities. The Network + will work closely with the Innovations Directorate, the Innovation Partnership Scheme (IPS) Fellows and STFC Innovations Ltd (based in Harwell). The main activity for taking the research from the Network along the research pipeline and translating it into patient or industrial benefit will be through the Impact Sandpit. This is deliberately designed to take successful research ideas and develop them in collaboration with an industrial or public sector partner. In addition, all of the proposals originating from the Grand Challenge Sandpits will be asked to think about the pathway for developing the proposal, where future funding will come from and the potential for Knowledge Exchange. Where applicable cross-disciplinary PhDs will also be encouraged to involve an industrial or international secondment. In addition, stakeholders from the public and private sectors will be invited to attend Network meetings and can also apply to attend and participate in the Sandpits and be involved as collaborators in joint PhDs. These stakeholders will also play an important role in the Foresight document and Roadmap. It is envisaged that Network+ will work closely with the NHS Commissioners via the Department of Health and CTRad to develop a joined up UK research roadmap.