In an underground facility beneath Duke's campus – the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) – researchers are testing a new approach to radiation therapy that could transform how brain tumors are treated. Termed FLASH radiation therapy, this technique delivers the same total dose of radiation as traditional radiation therapy, but in ultra-fast bursts.
A recent Duke-led study published in October in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, "Investigating the FLASH Effect in a Rat Brain Organotypic Model with a Novel High Energy Electron Beam," showcases how researchers are using this technology to better understand FLASH's effects on both cancer and the brain's immune system – potentially paving the way for safer and more effective radiation treatment.
Study authors used the TUNL's high intensity gamma-ray source (HIGS) – the highest-flux Compton gamma-ray source in the world – at the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory to create a custom-built beamline capable of delivering this ultra-high dose rate radiation to brain tissue samples paired with metastatic breast cancer cells, mimicking the conditions of brain metastases.
Read more about the work involving members of the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis here.