Dr David Waddington
The University of Sydney
$450,000
2025 - 2028
The Research
Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer death, with 5-year survival rates less than 10%. Radiotherapy techniques based on intense, precisely focused radiation beams have emerged as a treatment option for patients ineligible for curative surgery.
In preliminary studies, patients receiving these 'ablative' radiotherapy treatments have experienced survival benefits of more than 20%. However, most patients cannot receive these curative, high-dose treatments due to the unacceptable risk of collateral radiation damage to moving organs that surround the tumour. Instead, lower, palliative doses are given.
Our vision is to solve the targeting challenges that limit the efficacy and safety of pancreatic cancer radiotherapy. We will harness and deploy new artificial intelligence and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies to track tumour position, enabling adaptation of the radiotherapy beam to pancreas motion.
Our technology will improve the safety of pancreatic cancer radiotherapy and expand the cohort of patients eligible for curative treatment.
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