Proton Therapy at the Christie
In December 2018 the Christie NHS Foundation Trust opened a new proton beam therapy (PBT) facility. This is the first NHS high- energy PBT centre in the UK as part of a E250M NHS England funded programme to provide a national PBT service, with a second centre due to open at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2020. The NHS high-energy PBT service in the UK was 10 years in development, and when running at full capacity is expected to provide treatment to up to 1500 patients per year across the two centres. This lecture will cover the rationale behind the use of high-energy (up to 245 MeV] protons for radiotherapy. highlighting the differences between PBT and current state-of-the-art gamma ray radiotherapy which arise due to the underlying physics. It will present an overview of the technologies used to deliver the proton beam to the patient, and the methods of treatment planning that clinical physicists use to ensure that the prescribed dose is delivered to the target (i.e. the tumour) while minimising the dose delivered to surrounding normal tissues. Current and future areas of research and development in the areas of delivery, planning, imaging and radio-biological modelling will also be presented.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER Dr. Adam Aitkenhead is a Principal Clinical Scientist at The Christie and an honorary researcher at the University of Manchester. He works on a range of topics across advanced radiotherapy. His main clinical interests lie in the use of Monte Carlo simulations to model the planning and delivery of proton therapy plans. His research interests lie in the development of advanced delivery and planning techniques for proton therapy, proton imaging, radio-biological optimisation for treatment planning, and the development of pre-clinical infrastructure for proton therapy.
Speaker
Adam Aitkenhead
Role: Principal Clinical Scientist
Organisation: The Christie
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
Rutherford Lecture Theatre
Schuster Building
Manchester
