Radiation Sciences Working Group Meeting
The Radiation Sciences Working Group meets virtually every second Thursday of the month with the goal of enhancing collaborations and potential clinical trial development between Georgetown University Medical Center, MedStar Health and Hackensack Meridian Health.
Intense areas of research at Georgetown include radiotherapy modalities (alone and in combination with other cancer treatments), radiation protection, biodosimetry for national security, and space.
This Meeting:
Talk titled “FLASH Proton Therapy: The Journey From Basic Research Findings to Human Clinical Trials” presented by Constantinos Koumenis, PhD, Richard Chamberlain Endowed Professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Talk Abstract: FLASH Radiotherapy refers to the ability of ultra-high dose radiation (in the form of electrons, protons, carbon and potentially photons) to cause significantly less toxicity in normal tissues compared to standard (conventional) dose radiotherapy while preserving tumor control. In my presentation I will highlight the efforts from our team at UPenn and our collaborators in cell lines, small animals and canine patients with Proton FLASH radiotherapy as we prepare to initiate human clinical trials by early 2025. I will focus on tumor/normal tissue systems and potential molecular mechanisms and discuss some of the challenges in translating this exciting modality to the clinical setting.