Grant: Operating Grant

In radiotherapy, radiation doses have been empirically determined and are largely based on previous population outcomes for given treatment sites. Doses are delivered in their entirety without consideration of in vivo disease response. There currently exists no standard method for a) assessing inherent patient radiosensitivity (for the purposes of personalizing pre- treatment dose prescription) and b) assessing disease response during the course of treatment. The global objective of this project is to investigate and implement Raman spectroscopic techniques, in conjunction with established technologies, to a) provide predictive capabilities on tissue radiosensitivity and b) provide technologies capable of monitoring disease response during the course of treatment. While the techniques aim to be, ultimately, site independent, the initial focus of the project will be on prostate cancer, due to local expertise in this area.