Australian Centre For Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,498,852.00
Summary
With over 5 billion mobile phone subscriptions world-wide, the electromagnetic energy (EME) that powers this technology is now ubiquitous, as is community concern about the possibility of associated health effects. Responding to this concern, the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research will embark on a 5-year research program to promote Australia’s EME health both in the immediate future, and through the development of human research capacity in this field, into the future.
This proposal will focus on determining the effect that disruption of molecules involved in repairing DNA has on development of adverse reactions following cancer radiation treatment. Radiation is efective for cancer but tissues that reside next to the tumour are also exposed to radiation (which can damage DNA) during radiotherapy. About 1-5% of radiotherapy patients develop unexpectedly severe side effects in their normal tissues. The dose of radiation used for treatment to the rest of patients ....This proposal will focus on determining the effect that disruption of molecules involved in repairing DNA has on development of adverse reactions following cancer radiation treatment. Radiation is efective for cancer but tissues that reside next to the tumour are also exposed to radiation (which can damage DNA) during radiotherapy. About 1-5% of radiotherapy patients develop unexpectedly severe side effects in their normal tissues. The dose of radiation used for treatment to the rest of patients (>95%) is restrained to assure only a small proportion risk developing severe reactions. If one could predict which individuals were more susceptible to these reactions, then their large dose could be lowered to avoid the problem, and importantly, the dose could be increased for the majority of the patients, which would lead to a higher cancer cure rate. There are over 130 genes involved in repairing DNA. We hypothesize that dysfunctional DNA repair molecules are likely candidates to cause radiosensitivity in these individuals. In fact, a few of these genes have already been found to cause radiosensitivity, but we aim to assess all of the DNA repair genes in samples from patients that have had severe reactions to radiotherapy. Here we will use biospecimens, unique to our study and obtained from clinically radiosensitive cancer patients. We will use very sensitive, state-of-the-art procedures to test RNA and protein levels in our patients' cells and the latest technology to test what happens when candidate DNA repair molecule levels are altered. Additionally, we will determine the changes in DNA repair molecule numbers in response to different doses of radiation. We anticipate that results from these experiments will lead to the development of a clinical assay to test the likelihood of an individual having a severe reaction to radiotherapy, thus allowing individualization of treatment and, reducing radiotherapy side effects ultimately increasing cancer cure rates.Read moreRead less
Unravelling The Mechanism Of MHC Class-I Associated Drug Hypersensitivities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$566,308.00
Summary
Some drugs cause adverse reactions that are life threatening. We think these reactions are mediated by killer T cells as they are genetically controlled by immune response genes that normally guide immunity to microbes. We will study immune reactions to the drug abacavir, used to treat HIV (AIDS); allopurinol used to prevent gout and carbamazepine, used to treat epilepsy. The study may also help devise better treatments for patients who experience severe forms of these reactions.
Pharmacogenomics And Mechanistic Basis Of Drug Hypersensitivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$677,220.00
Summary
Drug allergy causes physical harm, anxiety and may limit treatment options. We introduced personalised genetic testing to prevent one such drug hypersensitivity. Genetic information from patients who have had adverse drug reactions will be used to work out how drugs trigger severe allergic reactions and develop strategies to predict these reactions and design safer drugs. This research has relevance to our understanding of other inflammatory disease such as autoimmune disease and multiple sclero ....Drug allergy causes physical harm, anxiety and may limit treatment options. We introduced personalised genetic testing to prevent one such drug hypersensitivity. Genetic information from patients who have had adverse drug reactions will be used to work out how drugs trigger severe allergic reactions and develop strategies to predict these reactions and design safer drugs. This research has relevance to our understanding of other inflammatory disease such as autoimmune disease and multiple sclerosis.Read moreRead less
Characterisation Of T-cell Responses In Drug Hypersensitivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$306,338.00
Summary
Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DIHS) are a catastrophic form of adverse drug reaction. This study will use the drug abacavir, a cause of drug hypersensitivity to examine the way certain immune cells react and determine whether responses to viruses that are persistent in our bodies play a role these development of these reactions. This will help inform the immunological basis of DIHS as well as new treatments and potential ways of identifying drugs likely to cause these reactions in the pre-mar ....Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DIHS) are a catastrophic form of adverse drug reaction. This study will use the drug abacavir, a cause of drug hypersensitivity to examine the way certain immune cells react and determine whether responses to viruses that are persistent in our bodies play a role these development of these reactions. This will help inform the immunological basis of DIHS as well as new treatments and potential ways of identifying drugs likely to cause these reactions in the pre-marketing phase of drug development.Read moreRead less
First Ever System To Continuously And Directly Measure The Internal Anatomy To Guide Breast Cancer Radiation Treatment Under Deep Inspiration Breath Hold
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,766.00
Summary
We propose a first ever system to continuously and directly measure the internal anatomy of the patient during radiotherapy of left sided breast cancer to ensure correct position of patient and radiation beam. The proposed method involves no additional radiation dose to the patient. It relies on existing components of modern radiation treatment machines, requiring no additional equipment, which will make it easy to implement widely.
Improving Radiation Therapy Of Static And Moving Targets Using High Spatial Resolution Real-time Dosimeters
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$544,425.00
Summary
Radiation therapy is a major oncology modality for cancer treatment and more than 50% of cancer patients can benefit from radiotherapy at some stage of management. This project will develop two real-time, high spatial resolution dosimetry systems for quality assurance of contemporary radiation treatments of static and movable targets. It will be possible to minimize human and robotic system error so as to guarantee accurate cancer treatment delivery and improve the clinical outcomes of radiother ....Radiation therapy is a major oncology modality for cancer treatment and more than 50% of cancer patients can benefit from radiotherapy at some stage of management. This project will develop two real-time, high spatial resolution dosimetry systems for quality assurance of contemporary radiation treatments of static and movable targets. It will be possible to minimize human and robotic system error so as to guarantee accurate cancer treatment delivery and improve the clinical outcomes of radiotherapy.Read moreRead less
Translating Synchrotron Microbeam Radiation Therapy Into A Clinical Reality For Cancer Patients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$337,896.00
Summary
The aim of this project is to translate an experimental radiotherapy technique, known as microbeam radiotherapy, into a clinical reality for the benefit of cancer patients world-wide. I propose to achieve this aim by working at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in France. The ESRF is Europe’s most powerful synchrotron light source, where a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and physicians are collaborating to treat the first human cancer patients with synchrotron radiation.