Global Challenge Network+ in Advanced Radiotherapy

在英国，每两个人中就有一个在一生中被诊断出患有癌症，而在那些存活下来的人中，有40%的人可以将他们的治愈归功于包括放射治疗在内的治疗。在英国，手术后的放射治疗是治疗癌症最有效的方法。放射治疗的基本原则是最大限度地损害肿瘤（使其消毒），同时尽量减少对周围健康组织的损害（减少副作用）。近年来，随着新机器和新方法的发展，放射治疗发展迅速。这反过来又带来了更好的成像、治疗计划和剂量测定，使剂量能够更准确地传递并符合肿瘤。他们也提出了一系列有趣的新挑战和问题，所有这些都需要创新和解决方案。这正是STFC社区可以产生巨大影响的地方，因为他们拥有有效应对新挑战所需的技能。这也带来了来自欧洲核子研究中心的专业知识，这对于克服放射治疗中的一些成像挑战可能是无价的。此外，放射治疗的最新发展——如磁共振直线加速器和质子治疗——证明了社会需要与商业伙伴共同努力。如果英国要保持竞争力，为患者提供更好的治疗，并为英国经济创造收入和影响，就不能再依赖偶然的合作伙伴关系。这就是“高级放疗全球挑战网络+”寻求解决的问题。该网络的目的是在进行放射治疗研究的方式上创造一种范式转变，并将建立一个管道，这将直接转化为患者的利益和生活质量。它将促进临床和STFC社区之间新的多学科合作伙伴关系，并提供激进和创新的解决方案，这些解决方案利用各个学科的优势和知识，并将它们编织在一起，超越传统的学科界限，其总和大于其组成部分。这是一个特别激动人心的时刻启动这个网络，NHS投资2.5亿英镑在曼彻斯特克里斯蒂医院和伦敦大学学院伦敦医院建立两个新的质子治疗中心，最近由牛津大学精确癌症医学研究所的HEFCE资助。这些临床发展应作为放射治疗多学科研究合作的跳板，并在STFC实验室和大学的临床和学术界之间建立牢固的联系。该网络将汇集癌症临床医生、临床科学家和来自生物科学的研究人员，以及来自STFC社区的研究人员，这些研究人员来自粒子和天体物理学、核科学、加速器科学、成像、计算科学和探测器等不同领域，以开发研究管道，并为英国先进放疗研究的协调国家计划和路线图做出贡献。这是非常及时的，将加强临床放疗和STFC科学家在国家实验室和大学之间的联系，并与STFC未来计划，特别是医疗保健主题保持一致。高级放疗全球挑战网络+旨在与国家癌症研究所CTRad（临床和转化放疗研究工作组）合作，在STFC国家实验室（ALICE， DIAMOND， ISIS, VELA/CLARA）和大学中参与更广泛的STFC资助能力（包括核物理，粒子物理和天文学），并利用STFC的经验和专业知识。在这样做的过程中，它旨在参与STFC活动的职权范围，并帮助其转化为临床环境。

In the UK one in two people are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes and of those who survive 40% can attribute their cure to treatment including radiotherapy. After surgery, radiotherapy is the most effective cure for cancer in the UK. The basic tenet of radiotherapy is to maximise the damage to the tumour (to sterilise it) while minimising the damage to the surrounding healthy tissue (to reduce side effects). In recent years radiotherapy has developed rapidly with the development of new machines and methodologies. These in turn, have resulted in better imaging, treatment planning and dosimetry, which enable the dose to be more accurately delivered and conformed to the tumour. They have also thrown up a range of interesting new challenges and issues all of which require innovation and solutions. This is exactly where the STFC community could make an enormous impact as they have exactly the skill set which is needed to effectively tackle the new challenges as they arise. This also brings in the expertise from CERN, which could prove invaluable for overcoming some of the imaging challenges in radiotherapy. In addition, the latest developments in radiotherapy - such as MR-linacs and proton therapy - evidence the need for the community to work together with commercial partners. If the UK is to remain competitive and deliver even better treatments for patients, and produce income and impact for the UK economy, it can no longer rely on serendipitous partnerships. This is what this Global Challenge Network+ in Advanced Radiotherapy seeks to address. This Network is aimed at creating a paradigm shift in the way in which radiotherapy research is undertaken and will create a pipeline, which directly translates into patient benefit and quality of life. It will catalyse new multidisciplinary partnerships between the clinical and STFC communities and provide radical and innovative solutions, which draw on the strengths and knowledge of the individual disciplines and weave them together to transcend traditional discipline boundaries, with the sum being greater than the constituent parts. This is a particularly exciting time to launch this network, with the NHS investment of £250m into two new centres for proton therapy at the Christie Hospital in Manchester and University College London Hospital in London and the recent funding by HEFCE of the Institute for Precision Cancer Medicine in Oxford. These clinical developments should act as a launch pad for multidisciplinary research collaborations in radiotherapy and develop strong links between the clinical and academic communities in STFC laboratories and universities. This Network will bring together cancer clinicians, clinical scientists and researchers from the biosciences with researchers from the STFC community in areas as diverse as particle and astrophysics, nuclear science, accelerator science, imaging, computational science and detectors to develop a research pipeline and contribute to a coordinated national plan and roadmap for advanced radiotherapy research across the UK. This is particularly timely and will strengthen the links between clinical radiotherapy and STFC scientists in both national laboratories and universities and is aligned with STFC Futures Programme, in particular the Healthcare Theme.This Global Challenge Network+ in Advanced Radiotherapy aims to work in partnership with the National Cancer Research Institute CTRad (Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group) engage the wider STFC funded capability (to encompass nuclear physics, particle physics and astronomy) in both the STFC national laboratories (ALICE, DIAMOND, ISIS, VELA/CLARA) and universities and to draw on the STFC experience and expertise within them. In doing so it aims to engage across the remit of STFC activities and aid their translation into the clinical environment.