Researchers at the CERN European Science Laboratory, who regularly use particle physics to challenge our understanding of the universe, are also applying their abilities to push the boundaries of cancer treatment.
Physicists are working with giant particle accelerators to find ways to extend radiation therapy to cancer, targeting hard-to-reach tumors that would otherwise be deadly.
In a CERN lab called CLEAR, site coordinator Roberto Corsini stands next to a large linac particle accelerator, consisting of a 40-meter metal beam with aluminum foil tubes at one end, a wide array of measuring instruments, and brightly colored wires and cables.
Research here is focused on creating high-energy beams of electrons — the negatively charged particles in an atom — that could ultimately help fight cancer cells more effectively, he told AFP during a recent visit.
Corsini explained that they are looking for “technology to accelerate electrons to energies needed to treat deep tumors that are above 100 million electron volts” (MeV).
The idea is to use these high energy electrons (VHEE) along with a promising new treatment called FLASH.
This method involves the delivery of a dose of radiation in a few hundred thousandths of a second, and not in minutes, as is currently the case.
This has been shown to have the same devastating effect on the target tumor, but causes much less damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
According to Benjamin Fish, Knowledge Transfer Officer at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), conventional radiation therapy causes “some collateral damage.”
He told reporters that the effect of short and intense FLASH treatment is to “reduce toxicity to healthy tissues with corresponding damage to cancer cells.”
FLASH was first tested on patients in 2018 based on currently available medical linacs, linacs that deliver low power electron beams of around 6-10 MeV.
At such a low energy, the beams cannot penetrate deeply, which means that highly effective treatments have so far only been applied to superficial melanomas.
But physicists at CERN are now collaborating with the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV) to build a FLASH delivery machine that can accelerate electrons up to 100-200 MeV, making it possible to use the technique to treat hard-to-reach tumors.
Deep carcinomas that cannot be removed with surgery, chemotherapy, or conventional radiation therapy are often considered a death sentence.
The goal is to “those tumors that we do not currently treat. For those specific cancers that may account for a third of all cancers, the rules of the game could be changed,” said Professor Jan Burhees, head of radiology at CHUV.
There is great hope that, with minimal impact on surrounding tissues, FLASH will be able to track tumors in the brain or near other vital organs.
Now, Bores said, he may not be relegating these deaths from terminal cancer to the history books, “but at least there will be a new opportunity for more treatments if they work.”
One of the challenges is to make the powerful accelerator small enough to fit in a hospital.
At CERN, a large gallery is reserved for the CLEAR accelerator, which requires 20 meters to bring the electrons to the required energy level, and another 20 meters to prepare, measure and deliver the beam.
But Corsini insisted that CERN had the know-how “how to accelerate in tighter and tighter spaces.”
A prototype built with CHUV will aim to do the same with a machine with a total length of 10 meters.
Corsini said this “compact” solution “reduces cost, energy consumption and versatility, and can be easily installed in a hospital without having to build an entire building for it.”
Construction of the prototype should begin next February, and clinical trials on patients could begin in 2025, “if all goes well,” Bores said.
Source: Science Alert.
The post How particle physics can reduce "collateral damage" Cancer heals! appeared first on Asume Tech.
from Technology - Asume Tech https://asumetech.com/how-particle-physics-can-reduce-collateral-damage-cancer-heals/
No comments:
Post a Comment