Researchers have developed a new model to optimize radiation therapy and significantly increase the number of tumour cells killed during treatment.
Researchers have developed a new model to optimize radiation therapy and significantly increase the number of tumour cells killed during treatment.
The new mathematical model, outlined in a recent study led by a University of Waterloo student, can use information about where the majority of the cells in a tumour are located allowing for radiation treatment to be administered to the densest area.
Much consideration is currently usually given to optimal scheduling and dosing when radiation therapy is being prescribed, but the researchers found the treatment could be far more effective at killing brain tumour cells if oncologists also use the information on cell density and irradiate the densest area of the tumour.
“Typically, cells in a tumour are packed at a higher density in the middle and less as you go further out, but that fact is not fully taken into account in current radiation treatment,” said Cameron Meaney, a PhD candidate in Waterloo’s Department of Applied Mathematics. “If we have a better understanding of tumour cell density, then we could design treatment in a better way to kill more cells.”
Read more at University of Waterloo
