Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging
Joint Heads of Division: Professor Kevin Harrington and Professor Christopher Nutting
The main Radiotherapy research theme is the application of new image guidance techniques. This requires research relating to definition of target volumes; sophisticated treatment planning methods such as intensity-modulation; implementation and assessment of radiation beam delivery techniques, including stereotaxis and robotics; and quality assurance to ensure the safety of new techniques in a clinical context.
Our internationally recognised clinical imaging research has long-standing grant-funded research programmes in computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR), together with major projects in ultrasound, nuclear medicine, X-ray detectors and imaging applied to radiotherapy and focused ultrasound therapy. A major focus is developing multimodality imaging biomarkers for response assessment, particularly for evaluating novel therapeutics, since the early responses are not always associated with reduction in tumour size. Complementary functional information can be gained by combining different imaging modalities. Novel imaging techniques are required to non-invasively assess various facets of tumour biology such as tumour angiogenesis, cell proliferation, hypoxia etc. The Division includes the prestigious Cancer Research UK and EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre (one of 4 nationally awarded centres).
Close collaboration with researchers in The Joint Department of Physics, which spans both The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, is essential for the development and application of techniques for cancer imaging and for radiotherapy and ultrasound therapy. Major physics research areas are conformal and stereotactic radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiotherapy, radiopharmaceutical development, biologically targeted radionuclide therapy, high-focused ultrasound therapy, ultrasound and X-ray imaging, detector development and diagnostic imaging.
