A boost for head and neck proton therapy research

Dr. Jeremy Brown and dr. Dik van Gent (TU Delft and Erasmus MC) have received a grant from HollandPTC for their joint proton therapy research proposal “Influence of intrinsic biological variability on the outcome of proton radiotherapy in head and neck cancer”. Their aim is to identify biological factors that influence the outcomes of proton radiotherapy in head and neck cancer. They will use the findings to develop a predictive framework to assists clinicians in determining if a patient with head and neck cancer would obtain the best outcome from traditional photon, or proton radiotherapy.

The funding will support the formation of a new joint TU Delft and Erasmus MC radiobiology research program and enable its operation for 4 years. A unique team of researchers from the two organisations with diverse expertise in the areas of computational physical modelling, medical physics, radiobiology, and clinical radiation oncology is involved in the research. Jeremy Brown, “At the end of these 4 years we will have hoped to improve our understanding of the biological factors that influence the outcomes of photon and proton radiotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and developed the research infrastructure to enable the study of other forms of cancer in a similar manner."

The total amount of funding is around 750.000 euros.

See the HollandPTC website for more information on proton therapy and all the TU Delft, Erasmus MC and LUMC grants.

Dr. Jeremy Brown