UK scientists show oxygen delivery to tumors boosts radiotherapy success

Cancer Research CANCER UK scientists have identified a brand new approach to cancer treatment which radically increases the effectiveness of radiotherapy, reveals a study published in Cancer Research on August 1

Scientists from the Cancer Research UK - MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology & Biology at the University of Oxford - showed that treating mice with certain drugs improved the stability of blood vessels in the tumours.

Normally, these blood vessels are badly developed, weak and twisted and as a result cancer cells have lower oxygen levels than normal cells. But by improving the blood vessels the scientists increased the oxygen concentration inside the tumour - an effect that boosts tumours' sensitivity to radiotherapy. A better, more stable blood supply in the tumour also enables better delivery of chemotherapy drugs to the cancers.