27 February 2014 - Dr Josep Sulé-Suso
Research Institute for Science
& Technology in Medicine
MSc Cell & Tissue Engineering / Biomedical
Engineering Seminar Programme
Dr Josep Sulé-Suso
Associate Specialist and Senior Lecturer in Oncology,
UHNS and Keele University
Presenting:
“Improving cancer diagnosis and cancer patients’ satisfaction”
Thursday 27 th February 2014, 1.00 p.m.
Seminar Room, Guy Hilton Research Centre,
Thornburrow Drive, Hartshill
All Welcome
ABSTRACT
In this talk, 2 areas of research will be addressed.
The first one is early lung cancer diagnosis. Over the last few years, there has been an increasing interest to study volatile organic compounds (VOC) released by cancer cells aimed at improving early cancer diagnosis and assessing tumour response to treatment. Although most of the work has been carried out in lung cancer, other types of cancer such as bladder, prostate, breast and oesophageal have also been studied. However, there is no VOC or combination of VOC used in the clinical diagnosis of cancer yet. Our work with lung cells grown in 3-Dimesional (3D) systems using the Selected Ion Flow Tube
- Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) has shown that acetaldehyde, a product of alcohol metabolism, could be raised in the headspace of lung cancer cells grown in vitro when compared to non-malignant lung cells. However, the release of acetaldehyde can vary according to culture conditions. The application of VOC analysis in the management of lung cancer will be discussed.
The second area relates to patients’ experience when receiving radiotherapy
(RT) for cancer. In these cases, and in spite of having been explained to them how RT is planned and given, there is still a high degree of anxiety when entering for the first time the room where they will have RT. Therefore, a new system called Virtual Environment RadioTherapy (VERT) is being used to show patients with cancer and their relatives how RT is planned and given. This system uses a projector and a screen where patients can see the room where they will have RT and the machine giving the treatment. Furthermore, the area of the body to be treated is shown using their own CT scans. This has helped to reduce patients’ fears before RT.
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Hildegarde Wright
MSc Course Administrator
Keele University School of Medicine - Postgraduate
Clinical Education Centre (SF18)
University Hospital of North Staffordshire
Newcastle Road, Stoke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire ST4 6QB
Tel: +44(0)1782 672691
Fax: +44(0)1782 672699 e-mail: h.wright@keele.ac.uk
