Technologies originally developed for experiments in particle physics are being used to diagnose and treat cancer

PART 2. TEXTS FOR RENDERING

SAMPLE TEXTS FOR RENDERING

Read text 1

PARTICLE PHYSICISTS JOIN BATTLE AGAINST CANCER

Technologies originally developed for experiments in particle physics are being used to diagnose and treat cancer.

Particle physicists spend most of their time exploring the fundamental properties of matter. However, some are also engaged in developing new technologies for medical applications. About 130 physicists and healthcare professionals met in London recently to discuss “the future of medical imaging and radiotherapy”. A major theme at the meeting was how technology from particle physics could be used to diagnose and treat cancer. “I don’t think there is any discipline that has gained so much from technology developed for applied physics as cancer diagnosis and therapy,” says Alan Horwich of the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.“There is considerable potential for improving cancer cure rates over the next 10 to 15 years by the application of emerging imaging technologies to radiotherapy.”

According to Horwich, who is director of clinical research and development at the ICR, some 270000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the UK every year, but 12 less than half of the cases involving the most common types of cancer – breast, prostate, lung and bowel – are cured. He told that the accuracy of radiotherapy needed to be improved because that would reduce the exposure of normal tissue to potentially harmful levels of radiation and allow higher doses to be directed at the tumour. He also said it is important to understand how to target the most resistant parts of a tumour.

Technology developed by particle physicists has already led to breakthroughs in medical imaging, including positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed X-ray tomography (CT) and molecular imaging. In addition, linear accelerators are used to provide energetic photons for radiotherapy. The London meeting was organized by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) to explore new technologies and discuss their possible commercialization.

Nathan Hill, PPARC’s industry coordinator, says that the council is keen to encourage collaborations between academics and industry, and that it has already set up 14 collaborative projects in the field of healthcare, “bringing the physics technology to the medical market place.

Among the physics-based applications discussed at the meeting were the use of statistical analysis to improve image quality, a hand-held gamma camera for cancer diagnosis and the use of artificial neural networks to analyze cancer survival rates. Another application involves the development of a micro-strip dosimeter that should allow clinicians to target tumour more precisely and minimize damage to healthy tissue.

(Edwin Cartlidge, Physics World, June 2005)