Forschungsprojekte/Research Projects

1. Initiation und Leitung internationaler Forschungsprojekte an Synchrotroneinrichtungen zur Gewebetoleranz des normalen Gewebes in Risikoorganen nach Mikrostrahltherapie, dabei mehrere Erstuntersuchungen im internationalen Maßstab:

a) Assessment of memory formation (rats and mice, since 2004)

b) Assessment of lung function (mice, since 2018)

c) Assessment of heart function (rats, since 2019)

d) Assessment of spinal cord function (rats, since 2020)

1. Initiating and leading research projects into normal tissue tolerance and adverse effects of microbeam radiotherapy in organs of risk in small animal models at international synchrotron facilities as ‘international firsts’:

a) Assessment of memory formation (rats and mice, since 2004)

b) Assessment of lung function (mice, since 2018)

c) Assessment of heart function (rats, since 2019)

d) Assessment of spinal cord function (rats, since 2020)

2. In Zusammenarbeit mit Veterinären in Frankreich und Australien bereiten wir die ersten klinischen Studien zur Mikrostrahltherapie vor.

Haustiere, insbesondere Hunde und Katzen, können wie Menschen an bösartigen Tumoren in allen Organsystemen erkranken. Dabei sind die Histologie und der Krankheitsverlauf in Tier und Mensch sehr ähnlich.

Während die Behandlungsstrategie für einige Tumorentitäten bei Veterinärpatienten anders ist als beim Menschen, hat die Strahlentherapie bei manchen Tumorentitäten in den vergangenen Jahren einen zunehmend höheren Stellenwert bekommen. Damit sind Veterinärpatienten sehr gute Kandidaten für die ersten klinischen Versuche in der Mikrostrahltherapie: Es gereicht den vierbeinigen Patienten und ihren Besitzern zum Nutzen, denn nicht jeder besitzt die finanziellen Mittel, um sich eine Radiotherapie für seinen vierbeinigen Liebling leisten zu können, während die Strahlentherapie innerhalb der Studie unentgeltlich ist.

Außerdem hilft diese Herangehensweise der internationalen interdisziplinären Forschungsgemeinschaft, die bisher hauptsächlich in Kleintiermodellen mit künstlich induzierten Tumoren entwickelte Mikrostrahltherapie zu validieren, und zwar nun in Tieren mit spontan wachsenden Tumoren, die in der Größe den im Menschen zu behandelnden vergleichbar sind.

2. In collaboration with veterinarians in France and Australia, we prepare for the first clinical microbeam irradiation trials.

Companion animals, especially dogs and cats, can develop malignant tumours (cancers) in all organ systems, just like human patients. The histology as well as the course of the disease are very similar in both humans and animals.

While treatment approaches for animals differ from those in human patients in some cancers, over the last years, radiotherapy has become an integral component of the treatment concept for cancers also in companion animals. This makes veterinary patients very good candidates for the first clinical trials with microbeam radiotherapy. It is of advantage for the companion animals and their owners, because not everybody can afford the costs of radiotherapy for his or her beloved animal. For all study participants, however, radiotherapy is free of charge.

Equally important: this approach supports the efforts of the international interdisciplinary microbeam research community to validate microbeam radiotherapy, which has been developed mostly in small animal models with artificially induced malignant tumours, in patients with spontaneous tumours comparable in size to those seen in human patients.

Microbeams, Radiotherapy and Normal Tissue Tolerance

The aim of this project is to establish a biomedical insert for microbeam research at the first white beam beamline of the synchrotron facility PETRA III on the DESY campus in Hamburg.

Supported by:        DFG

Support period:      01/2019 – 12/2021

Exchange Project Germany-Australia: What can new developments in X-Tream dosimetry teach us for the utilization of dose enhancement in experimental microbeam radiotherapy and clinical radiotherapy?

Supported by:        DAAD

Support period:      01/2019 – 12/2020

BMBF WTZ, collaborative project with the Institute of Molecular Biology in Yerevan (Armenia): TERCA

The aim of this pilot project is to test Schiff bases and their copper complexes synthesiszed by our collaborators in Yerevan for their potential as radioenhancers in the radiotherapy of highly malignant tumours. 

Supported by:        BMBF

Support period:      09/2017 - 08/2019

COST Action TD1205: Innovative methods in Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery using Synchrotron Radiation (SYRA3)

The purpose of this Cost Action is to build an international and interdisciplinary network of physicians, basic and clinical scientists, physicists, mathematicians and engineers with the aim to translate microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) from the preclinical stage into clinical trials. Points on the agenda of SYRA3 include the

  • Improvement of our understanding of the physiological, biochemical, physical, and genetic parameters controlling the tissue sparing, tumour control and radiotoxicity of MRT  
  • Test of drugs and development of drug-delivery methods able to improve the therapeutic effect of radiotherapy  
  • Development of standardized tools for predicting and measuring the deposited dose in small fields (microdosimetry)
  • Preparation of the implementation of microbeam radiotherapy using compact sources
  • Training of young scientists and their inclusion as future project leaders

 

Förderung durch:      EU (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)

Förderzeitraum:        05/2013 – 04/2017

Homepage: www.syra3.eu