Research

Clinical Research in Radiation Oncology is undertaken by our staff members with start-up funding available from the Radiation Oncology Research Fund.

Donations for Research

The Department relies on public donations to its research fund to be able to support departmental research projects that then lead to external funding applications. Projects that began as in-house studies have lead to Cancer Council NSW and National Health and Medical Research Council funding.

For more information please contact Dana Lusis through Radiation Oncology Reception on (02) 4014 3125. Donations can be made by credit card or cash in person, or by cheque written to Radiation Oncology Patient Research and Development Fund. Only cheque may be posted to Radiation Oncology Department, Locked Bag 7, Hunter Region Mail Centre, NSW 2310. Please provide contact details so that a tax-deductible receipt can be issued.

Examples of in-house projects:

• Cone-Beam CT for Adapting Treatments

  With CBCT scanner technology integrated with the treatment linear accelerators, daily imaging of the patient can be performed to identify anatomy changes before each treatment. We are investigating variation in delivered dose and effectiveness of adaptive protocols. This project is supported by the Cancer Institute NSW and the Cancer Council NSW.

• High Precision MRI Based Prostate Radiotherapy

  This project is collaboration with CSIRO/Australian-Health Research Centre and aims to develop computer techniques utilising MRI scans directly for radiotherapy planning. Using non-rigid image registration techniques, pelvic anatomy MRI and CT atlases are developed to automatically segment organs and map electron densities to patient MRI scans for dose planning. This project is supported by the Cancer Council NSW, the Hunter Medical Research Institute and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. This work won the 2009 international prostate segmentation challenge at MICCAI (International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention) in London.

• Distress & Anxiety

  This multidisciplinary study was aimed at identifying the prevalence of distress and anxiety in patients with cancers of the head and neck and brain requiring immobilisation with thermoplastic masks. The department is currently investigating avenues to provide education and training for radiation therapists with the ultimate goal to improve patient care for all patients requiring radiation therapy.

• RT Knowledge Tank Rural Project

  Funded by the NSW Institute of Rural Clinical Services and Teaching in 2007, this project is aimed at providing information and education on radiation therapy to rural GPs, other healthcare professionals and their patients via an e-learning format.

• Real-time Dosimetry for Patient Safety in Radiation Therapy

  This project is a collaboration with the University of Manitoba. The aim is to develop methods to measure time-resolved dose delivery with EPIDs. Applications are verification of arc-IMRT, real-time tumour tracking, accounting for intra-fraction motion, and early detection of treatment delivery errors. This project is supported by the Cancer Council NSW.

• PROMAS (Better Margin Study)

  When irradiating a cancer patient's tumour to kill the tumour cells, the radiation beams must include a margin for error to allow for any misalignment between them and the tumour. The project's aim is to develop a method to customise margin width to individual patient needs for cancer radiotherapy using mathematical modelling of patient tumour motion during treatment, so that cure rates are maximised, while at the same time the rate of normal tissue complications is minimised. This project has received support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

• Altered Metabolism and Fatigue in Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Radiotherapy

  Fatigue can be a complication from cancer treatment and the causes of this remain unclear. This study will explore the incidence of fatigue in patients receiving radiotherapy for curative treatment of prostate cancer. It also explores possible causes of this including alterations in metabolism of amino acids. Patients will record their level of fatigue and depression using well recognized questionnaires. They will also have samples of blood and urine collected prior to, during and following treatment to determine if it is possible to predict who will develop fatigue and what mechanisms may be the cause of this.

• Bladder and Bowel Continence Promotion for Men Undergoing Prostate Radiotherapy

  Despite improved radiation techniques, bladder or bowel and erectile dysfunction are still common complications of radiotherapy for prostate cancer. This study will explore if a continence promotion intervention might reduce the onset of symptoms related to bladder, bowel and erectile dysfunction in men receiving treatment for early stage prostate cancer.
  Men receiving radiation therapy and or hormone therapy will be measured before, during and after their treatment to check the impact of treatment on pelvic floor muscle function, bladder or bowel and erectile dysfunction.

• Rectal Balloons During Prostate Radiotherapy to Reduce Toxicity

  Planned for 2012, we are exploring the use of rectal balloons to reduce rectal toxicity and increase accuracy of treatment during prostate radiotherapy. This project will also investigate a more convenient form of external beam radiotherapy by reducing the number of treatment visits for prostate cancer treatment from 37-39 occasions down to 5.

• Medical Physics Research Projects

  More information on medical physics related projects can be found here