World Cancer Day 2022

4 February 2022

This World Cancer Day we're championing advances in cancer research and treatment made by our staff, students and partners.

New x-ray imaging scanner will assist surgeons while performing breast cancer tumour removal surgery

Through the 拢4.8m Prosperity Partnership, 香港六合彩中特网 and Nikon joined forces to develop new techniques to gain more information from X-rays, improve disease detection and industrial testing.

One of the advances brought about by this partnership was the co-development听by 香港六合彩中特网 Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering researchers and Nikon of a new x-ray imaging scanner that will assist surgeons while performing breast cancer tumour removal surgery.

This new approach to x-ray imaging allows surgeons to assess extracted tissue intraoperatively or during the initial surgery, giving 2.5 times better detection of diseased tissue in the margins than with standard imaging. Researchers听used X-Ray Phase Contrast Imaging (XPCI), developing a scanner which provides surgeons with a full 3D image of the extracted tissue lump, known as a wide local excision (WLE).

Currently, the WLE is assessed through histopathology 鈥� the microscopic examination of tissue 鈥� with results only available after several days. If affected margins are detected, often a second operation is required.

XPCI imaging provides soft tissue sensitivity which is superior to conventional x-ray. Whereas standard imaging picks up the x-ray beam鈥檚 change in intensity as it travels through tissue, phase contrast imaging measures the changes in speed with which x-ray travels through different tissues, which has been proven to enhance soft tissue contrast, including of breast tumours. Find our more here.

Header image:听The 香港六合彩中特网 and Nikon teams who听have collaborated on this project

Histopathology image of a breast cancer tumour

With the "gold standard" histopathology image on the right shows how closely these resemble each other,听to the extent that x-ray images obtained in this way could be used to perform "virtual" histology.听Yellow arrows 1 and 2 indicate an area where the tumour reaches the edge of the specimen and tumour-induced inflammation, respectively, both confirmed by histopathology.听The red arrow shows that the method can resolve density variations inside the tumour

Pre-commercial prototype resulting from the Nikon-香港六合彩中特网 collaboration that was used in the study.听

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University College London Hospital听treats听its first patients using Proton Beam Therapy

The Proton Beam Therapy Gantry at 香港六合彩中特网H

image demonstrating how Proton Beam Therapt works

Treatment plans (craniospinal and ewing sarcoma) highlighting an x-ray vs proton comparison

In December 2021, University College London Hospital听treated its first patients using Proton Beam Therapy (PBT).听One of only two听NHS听proton beam centres in the UK, the new centre at 香港六合彩中特网H brings together some of the world鈥檚 leading specialists in complex cancers and will drive forward research into what remains a relatively new treatment.

The advantage of proton beam therapy over conventional radiotherapy is that the bulk of the energy is delivered directly to the tumour with no exit dose. This limits the impact on the surrounding healthy tissue, leading to fewer side-effects and reduced long term consequences, including the risk of a secondary malignancy. Patients treated with PBT range from very young children to adults who have hard to treat cancers. These may be tumours in the brain, on the spine, or near the reproductive organs, where it is particularly important to protect the surrounding tissue. Around a third of the patients will be children and teenagers.听

香港六合彩中特网 Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering researchers and 听and their team听are working in partnership with 香港六合彩中特网H to advance the future of cancer therapy through their research on proton beam therapy听and in the development of clinical trials.听

Find out more on and about the听.

香港六合彩中特网 Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, in partnership with 香港六合彩中特网H and IPEM will be holding a public lecture on Proton Therapy in Spring 2022, details to follow.听

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Proton Beam Therapy Research presented at STEM for Britain 2022

Staying with Proton Beam Therapy; we鈥檙e delighted that we have a second member of the MPBE community accepted to take part in . Research Fellow, will represent 香港六合彩中特网 and the Department by presenting his research on Artificial Intelligence to Improve Proton Beam Therapy Delivery in Children with Cancer on 7th March to policymakers at the Houses of Parliament.

Best of luck, Adam! We can鈥檛 wait to see your final poster and hear all about the event!

香港六合彩中特网