All About Radiotherapy CRUK Cambridge Centre

In the final episode of this series, we are joined by a special guest, Robert Chuter, a researcher from the Christie Hospital. Robert shares with us his research into the impact radiotherapy has on climate change. We are all aware of the effects that we have on the world around us, and the way in which we minimise our impact on the environment is crucial for the future of the planet. Neil, a member of our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group, joins us this week to discuss radiotherapy, the environment, and what can be done to reduce our carbon footprint.

Robert works with the Clinical Radiotherapy Physics Team at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, UK, and the Radiotherapy-Related Research (RRR) Group at the University of Manchester. Whilst his main focus is on the Magnetic Resonance Linear Accelerator (MR-Linac), he is also the Chair of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine's (IPEM) Environmental Sustainability Group, which he set up in February 2020. As part of this, he has written many articles and presented at numerous meetings on this critically-important topic. He was also successful in being awarded nearly £10,000 by the North-West Greener NHS Innovation Fund to estimate the carbon footprint of the radiotherapy treatment pathway.

Today, Andrew Robinson talks to us about adaptive radiotherapy, where we are with it now, and the potential it has for the future. Adaptive radiotherapy has been around for many years, but it is not currently standard practice. Essentially, there are different ways in which we can adapt radiotherapy treatment, which Andrew explains during this episode. Helene, a member of our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group, asks questions about what this may mean for radiotherapy practice and how the workforce may manage some of the associated challenges.

Andrew is the Head of Radiotherapy Physics in the Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. He is a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)-registered Clinical Scientist, Medical Physics Expert, and Higher Specialist Scientist. Andrew has experience across many areas of radiotherapy physics including quality control, dosimetry, prostate brachytherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy planning, and equipment replacement projects.

Today we speak with David Fernandez-Antoran about his involvement in the FLASH Radiotherapy Working Group to find out more about the exciting prospect of FLASH radiotherapy and the pre-clinical work currently happening within CRUK RadNet Cambridge. Amy, our patient representative, joins us once again to learn more about this exciting new research and to share how she managed the side effects of her radiotherapy treatment.

David is the CRUK RadNet Group Leader at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, UK, running the Radiation Biology and Cell Competition Laboratory, and is the co-Chair of the Emerging Radiotherapy Technologies UK group and the Principal Investigator of the FLASH Radiotherapy Working Group in the UK. He studies how tissues respond to radiotherapy treatments, not just the tumour but in healthy tissues too, in order to develop more effective 'tumour killing' radiotherapy and to be less aggressive with the healthy surrounding tissues.

In today's episode, Dr Indrani Bhattacharya introduces proton beam therapy. This technique is in its infancy in the UK, with The Christie NHS Trust in Manchester and University College London Hospital building the first proton beam therapy centre as a part of their hospitals' radiotherapy services and to serve the entire UK population. With all this new research being prepared, we want to know what this means for radiotherapy practice in the near future. Amy, our patient representative, shares her experiences of radiotherapy and asks how proton beam therapy might have impacted upon her treatment pathway.

Indrani is a Clinical Oncology Consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK, specialising in breast cancer. She has expertise in technical breast radiotherapy and clinical trials radiotherapy quality assurance, as well as delivery of systemic therapies for breast cancer patients. She is also the Principal Investigator for PARABLE, a recently-opened proton beam therapy clinical trial.

In this episode, Cristina Ferreira discusses with us a new technology, soon to be implemented here in Cambridge, UK, called Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT). Our patient representative Caroline shares her experiences of radiotherapy treatment and the challenges that this new technology could help overcome.

Cristina is the Head of Technical Operations in the Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. Her current role involves providing professional leadership and expert technical knowledge, not only to the Radiotherapy Department but to our wider professional group. Cristina is a core member of a team implementing complex radiotherapy techniques, driving service improvement and staff development.

Podcast host Rachael Webster is joined by Dr Raj Jena to find out about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on radiotherapy practice and how this is already being used in radiotherapy today. The Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK, has been using some machine learning approaches that were developed in house for many years, but what does this mean? Beverly from our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group asks Raj the questions that patients would like to know the answers to regarding AI and the benefits it can have on radiotherapy treatment planning.

Raj is an Academic Radiation Oncology Consultant specialising in the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spine, at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. He is currently researching the use of AI and machine learning to improve radiotherapy treatments. Raj is also the lead researcher on a multi-centre study of AI in radiotherapy called Hamlet.RT.