Breakfast & Science Seminar 34

Abstract:

When it comes to treating central nervous system tumors, radiation therapy can be life-saving. However, the side effects of conventional radiation therapy can be severe, impacting the quality of life long after treatment ends. That’s why the development of FLASH radiotherapy, a new ultra-high dose rate irradiation modality where treatment can last only milliseconds, is so exciting. Animal studies have shown that FLASH-RT induces a remarkable FLASH effect, preserving healthy tissue while maintaining anti-tumor efficacy.
Recent pre-clinical results exploring the Flash Effect on the brains of juvenile mice have shown that FLASH-RT not only protects against neurocognitive decrements induced by traditional radiotherapy but also preserves synaptic integrity and long-term potentiation, which are essential for memory and cognition. Additionally, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis using 14T showed differences after FLASH-RT compared to conventional RT. Furthermore, our tests on orthotopic cerebellar injections of malignant brain tumor cells, both FLASH-RT and conventional radiotherapy were equally effective in controlling tumor growth and increasing survival.
These findings suggest that FLASH-RT could be a game-changer in treating brain tumors, potentially preserving efficacy while improving quality of life.

About the speaker:

In Mexico, Paola Ballesteros-Zebadúa obtained her Master’s degree in Medical Physics at the Institute of Physics of the National University of Mexico (UNAM), receiving the Alfonso Caso Medal for Merit. Later she obtained her Ph. D. in Neurosciences with honors at the Faculty of Medicine of the UNAM. Thanks to a grant from the Mexican National Council of Science, she started radiobiology research at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery to investigate the undesired late effects of radiotherapy in the CNS. Her laboratory was the first in Mexico dedicated to applied neurosciences focused on brain response after conventional radiotherapy. In parallel, she has worked on diverse neuroscience topics and dosimetry for small-animal irradiation. In Mexico, she organized and participated in several workshops for medical specialists and medical physics students about topics in radiobiology. She was a regular radiobiology lecturer at UNAM Mexico. She established close collaborations with other institutions and, more recently, with Prof. Vozenin at CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland, and Prof. Limoli at UCI, Irvine, USA. In collaboration with them, she obtained an SFNS grant. She is now focused on exploring the feasibility of FLASH-RT as medulloblastoma treatment using orthotopic cerebellar injections of MB human cells in juvenile mice.