Presentation on the Fast Optimization of the Radiation Therapy of Tumours, November 9

"Fast Optimization of the Radiation Therapy of Tumours- the Impossible Possible" is the title of a presentation by Dr. Pedro Goldman taking place at UPEI on Thursday, November 9, from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm in the Duffy Amphitheatre. Interested members of the public are welcome to attend.

Dr. Goldman is Director of the Graduate Program in Biomedical Physics and Chair of the Physics Department at Ryerson University in Toronto. His presentation will examine alternatives to the current practice of treating cancer tumours with large doses of radiation administered five days a week for six or seven weeks.

The delivery of radiation during this period of time is based on a single set of CT images obtained before the treatment starts. Dr. Goldman will explain why he believes this is not an ideal situation. He will discuss an important advancement in radiation therapy that is unavailable today called adaptive radiation therapy, which is the ability to redesign the radiation treatment at the time of each (daily)delivery by obtaining updated CT images of the patient and re-planning the treatment to adapt to any displacement or deformation of the tumours or other organs. Adaptive radiotherapy is one of the most sought-after goals in present day radiation therapy research.

Dr. Goldman will discuss this crucial challenge in cancer treatment research and the role of physicists in its solution. In particular, he will examine a new method of radiation therapy called FIDO that is expected to help make adaptive radiation therapy possible.