Hyperthermia is a cancer treatment during which the temperature in the tumour is increased to 40-43°C. This rise significantly enhances effectiveness of radiotherapy/chemotherapy without increasing side effects. Applications in cancer patients with e.g. cervical, bladder or recurrent breast tumours showed ~15-20% enhanced effectiveness by adding hyperthermia. The fundamental mechanisms through which hyperthermia improves outcome are not yet fully understood. Its clinical potential is therefore not yet optimally exploited: even higher effectiveness is possible.
Preclinical research will accelerate establishing optimal treatment protocols. Until recently, adequate equipment to mimic clinical hyperthermia treatments on a small preclinical scale did not exist. To this end, the ALBA micro8 device has been developed. This device consists of 8 miniature antennas in a ring to focus the heat delivery at the desired target location.
Effective use of this device in preclinical research requires reliable treatment planning software to determine device settings that deliver the desired temperature rise at the desired location. Because of the small scale in preclinical models, this goal is more challenging compared to human treatments. Therefore, dedicated treatment planning software is required and will be developed within this project.
Would you like to know more about the different phases within the PhD trajectory? You can read more about this on this page. You will develop computer models to accurately predict and optimize the heat delivery by the ALBA micro8 device. Advanced numerical models accounting for relevant thermal processes should ensure the desired temperature rise at the specified target location.
In addition, you will develop biological models to account for the synergistic effect between hyperthermia and radiation, to enable optimization of the combined hyperthermia plus radiotherapy treatment.
The research will be finalized with a PhD thesis.