health.dewantoro.org/2007/05/08/10m-grant-to-vcu-to-dev -
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Last Visited: 9/17/2007
The NCI's Project Program Grant, titled "Image Guided Adaptive Radiation Therapy," or IGART, was awarded to Jeffrey F. Williamson, Ph.D., professor of radiation oncology and chair of that department's division of medical physics.
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"In an era of decreased federal cancer research grants, securing such large-scale funding is an extraordinary achievement by Dr. Williamson and his colleagues," added Jerome Strauss, M.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine.Williamson and colleagues also will collaborate with investigators from Stanford University, the M.D.
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"Anyone can acquire treatment technology, but knowing how to maximize its potential by layering on advances in imaging science, biostatistics and biology is what will really improve cancer outcomes in patients," said Williamson.As radiation treatments are administered, a tumor's shape and size changes.Lung tumors, in particular, change shape and position during treatment due to the patient's breathing.Radiation is often given daily over a period of days or weeks, and the ability to adapt the treatment to a tumor's movement during the course of treatment can have a significant effect on the patient's outcome.
"Human anatomy is dynamic and constantly changing, and organs shift and deform differently during each daily treatment," explained Williamson.
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"By updating the 4-D anatomy as patients are treated, we can adapt or modify the treatment daily, or, if necessary, on a second-to-second basis to accommodate anatomical and biological changes," Williamson said.
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In addition to Williamson, principal investigators include radiation oncology faculty members Jeffrey Siebers, Ph.D.; Martin Murphy, Ph.D.; Nesrin Dogan, Ph.D.; and Paul Keall, Ph.D., an adjunct professor at VCU who is also director of radiation oncology physics at Stanford University.