ORIGIN project members from across Europe met in Queen’s University Belfast’s PGJCCR to present the results of their collaborative work in delivering more precise and effective brachytherapy for the treatment of prostate and gynaecological cancer through the use of new optical fibre technology.

Jenny Hanly, the project manager for the consortium, based at the University of Limerick said: “The consortium’s dedication, collaboration, and multidisciplinary expertise were truly exemplified during the two day event, which marks the culmination of four years of pioneering research to improve patients' lives.”

Unlike other forms of radiotherapy, which tend to use external radiation, brachytherapy uses small radioactive implants, known as ‘sources’, which are placed inside or close to the cancer. This allows doctors to target specific areas with radiation while reducing the doses inadvertently delivered to surrounding tissues.

Despite the potential for brachytherapy to reduce some of the unwanted side-effects of radiotherapy it is still difficult to measure the level of unwanted doses on surrounding tissues. ORIGIN has developed innovative technology that will provide advanced real-time imaging and mapping of the radiation doses delivered to the target area and surrounding organs.

Professor Kevin Prise who led the work carried out by the team at Queen’s alongside colleagues from the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre, as part of the Origin consortium, said: “The technology developed during the Origin project is at the cutting edge of quantifying radiation dose very precisely and in patients undergoing brachytherapy, it will give clinicians much more information to effectively deliver these treatments.”

The project expands on the successful development of two optical fibre technologies used to measure dosage and other innovative components, integrated to create a medical device that will be an exciting and valuable new tool for oncologists.

Brachytherapy use and development has been ongoing in Northern Ireland since 2009. The 2017 UK and Ireland Prostate Brachytherapy Conference was also held in Belfast.

ORIGIN member Professor Suneil Jain of PGJCCR’s ProEx Prostate Cancer Centre of Excellence said: "Ireland is leading the way internationally on prostate cancer treatment and the work carried out within the ORIGIN Consortium demonstrates world-class research that has the potential to reduce side-effects and improve outcomes in patients with cervical and prostate cancer treated with brachytherapy."