Prof Kevin Prise
Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology
Queen's University
Belfast
Understanding the effects of radiation and improving radiotherapy
At Queen's University Belfast, Professor Kevin Prise is working to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy - around 40 per cent of patients whose cancer is cured receive this treatment. He is a world-leading expert in this area of research.
Radiotherapy works by bombarding cancer cells with radiation, causing DNA damage and ultimately leading to cell death. But recent studies suggest that radiation can have other effects within the cell, which affect its response to the treatment.
The 'bystander effect'
Professor Prise and his team are using brain cancer cells and blood cells grown in the lab to study the interaction between normal cells and tumour cells in response to radiation. They are particularly interested in the so-called 'bystander effect', in which neighbouring cells respond to radiation, despite not being directly targeted by it.
Understanding more about the bystander effect could lead to ways to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy. To investigate this further, the team have developed new ways of producing very small beams of radiation, called 'microbeams', which can be used to target individual cancer cells.
As well as studying radiotherapy, which is used to treat cancer, Professor Prise and his team are using microbeams to investigate how low doses of radiation can actually cause cancer. A greater understanding of the effects of exposure to radiation should lead to better treatment and prevention strategies.
Visit our A-Z topic pages
If you want to help support more research like this, please visit our Donate Now page.
Increase text
Decrease text
Print this page