Improving radiotherapy treatment to reduce the risk of recurrence

Grant information

Researcher: Dr Jane Shortall
Institution: University of Manchester
Grant award: £347,111
Reference: TLD-CAF23-009

What you need to know

• Currently, it is very hard to tell from scans if prostate cancer has spread to the seminal vesicles – small glands on top of the prostate.
• This means some radiotherapy treatment plans may not deliver enough radiation to this area to completely kill off all the cancer cells.
• Dr Shortall will expand the range of factors used to plan, deliver and follow up on radiotherapy, including the man’s genetics, to make the treatment more accurate and effective.
• She believes this will reduce the risk of cancer cells being missed during treatment, and therefore reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.

About Dr Shortall

Dr Shortall completed her master’s degree in physics at the University of Manchester, before spending three years working as a nuclear safety consultant for an engineering consultancy firm.

She then applied her knowledge of radiation physics to a PhD in cancer science at the University of Manchester, and is currently working with the Radiotherapy-Related Research group there as a postdoctoral research fellow.

Dr Shortall’s PhD looked at radiotherapy that is guided by MRI scans, and how the dose of radiation during treatment is spread across the target area. During her PhD, she published four research papers in the International Journal of Medical Physics Research and Practice.

For her postdoctoral research in the Radiotherapy-Related Research group, Dr Shortall has been looking at prostate cancer recurrence after radiotherapy. In particular, she has been investigating how recurrence is linked to radiotherapy dose in different locations, and how we can better personalise treatment for each man.

She has also been investigating how the way PSA levels change in men after radiotherapy can predict the likelihood of recurrence, and how this links to the original radiation dose in different treatment locations. This grant will enable her to extend this promising research as an independent researcher.

What will Dr Jane Shortall do?

Currently, radiotherapy is planned, delivered and followed up based on a man's age, his PSA levels and his scans. However, sometimes the disease can spread to the seminal vesicles, small glands on top of the prostate, without being visible on scans.

This means some radiotherapy treatment plans may not deliver enough radiation to this area to completely kill off all the cancer cells, increasing the risk that the cancer will return.

Dr Shortall’s previous research suggests that a man’s biology and genetic make-up can affect how likely it is that his prostate cancer will spread to these glands, and how it responds to radiotherapy.

In this project, she aims to develop a new way of planning, delivering and following up on radiotherapy that will include these factors, reducing the risk of cancer returning.

She will analyse data on thousands of men treated with radiotherapy, including blood samples and MRI scans taken before, during and after treatment.

For men before their treatment, she will compare blood tests and MRI scans to work out which men may have cancer growing in their seminal vesicles that can’t be seen on a scan.

During treatment, she will look at changes in blood tests and scans to monitor how cancer in the seminal vesicles is responding to radiotherapy in real time, and get a better idea if, and when, the treatment should be adapted.

After treatment, she will look at patterns in blood tests and follow-up scans to help detect early signs of the cancer returning.

For this project, Dr Shortall will work closely with Professor Tyler Seibert at the University of California San Diego. Professor Siebert’s lab is working on new ways to detect prostate cancer and assess how well it responds to radiotherapy. As well as monthly virtual meetings with Professor Siebert, Dr Shortall will spend three two-week placements in his lab, developing her image analysis skills and working on new ways to analyse the data from her project.

How will this benefit men?

Even though treatments have improved significantly over the last decade, around 1 in 3 men will be told that their prostate cancer has come back.

In some cases, that is because some of the cancer cells were missed during the first round of treatments.

By improving the way radiotherapy is targeted and delivered, Dr Shortall’s research could make it less likely that this will happen. Improving the follow-up stage could also help doctors catch any recurrence sooner, when it is easier to treat.

As a result, the research could save and improve the lives of men living beyond prostate cancer, and give them much-needed reassurance during their treatment.

Even though treatments have improved significantly over the last decade, around 1 in 3 men will be told that their prostate cancer has come back.

In some cases, that is because some of the cancer cells were missed during the first round of treatments.

By improving the way radiotherapy is targeted and delivered, Dr Shortall’s research could make it less likely that this will happen. Improving the follow-up stage could also help doctors catch any recurrence sooner, when it is easier to treat.

As a result, the research could save and improve the lives of men living beyond prostate cancer, and give them much-needed reassurance during their treatment.