Space technology helps cancer fight

Scientists at the University of Leicester Space Research Centre in England have received an award from the United Kingdom's Medical Research Council (MRC) to further exploit technologies developed for space research in the detection and treatment of cancer.

This will enable Dr John Lees and Professor George Fraser from the BioImaging Unit to work in collaboration with Dr Andrea Murray of the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, to investigate the use of a microchannel plate imager for visualising high-energy radionuclides, used in treating cancer.

The microchannel plate imaging detector technology was originally developed for space instrumentation research for X-ray astronomy cameras on the Chandra satellite. Its camera - sensitive to beta particles as well as X-rays - is thought to be ideal for detecting radiolabelled antibodies in tumour cells.

Radioimmunotherapy uses antibodies to carry therapeutic radiation direct to cancer cells, while normal cells are protected from its toxic effects. Such treatment has shown promise in tackling various cancers, including breast, bladder and ovary.

Techniques currently available do not have sufficient imaging accuracy or resolution at the size scale of the tumour to enable detailed analysis of the effectiveness of the technique.

The research collaboration will assess the performance of the microchannel plate camera as part of the development of a radiolabelled antibody being developed at Queen's Medical Centre for the treatment of bladder cancer, with the ultimate goal of using it to monitor the effectiveness of radiotherapy treatment.

Microchannel plates are very thin sheets consisting of tiny (about 12 microns in diameter) lead silicate glass tubes fused vertically into arrays. A single photon or electron striking the top of this array could cause an electron to be released down a tube.

High voltage pulls the electron down the tube where collisions with the tube walls may act to release further electrons. The glass tubes act as miniature electron multipliers that can exhibit gains of up to a few 100 million and are sensitive to X-rays, ultraviolet and electrons.

Microchannel plate detectors offer large areas, high spatial resolution, low background, good detection efficiency and are robust and radiation hard. Basic technology research at Leicester for space instrumentation is expected to continue producing imaging systems appropriate for use in life science and medical research.