The benefit of online adaptive proton therapy for paediatric patients
- Planned secondments: University of Manchester (United Kingdom), Hospital clinic de Barcelona (Spain) and WPE Westdeutsches Protonentherapiezentrum Essen (Germany)
- PhD program: ETH Zurich, Department of Physics
Project description
Online adaptive proton therapy (OAPT) offers the potential to improve anatomical robustness and target coverage in paediatric patients, but the added imaging and adaptation steps may increase integral dose and secondary cancer risk. This PhD project will quantify the benefit–risk balance of daily or right-time adaptation for paediatric proton therapy and support evidence-based extension of OAPT to paediatric indications.
The project will evaluate the trade-off between imaging dose and therapeutic dose in children, assess how daily imaging and cumulative integral dose relate to long-term risks such as secondary malignancies and late effects, and develop a model-based patient selection strategy to identify paediatric patients who benefit most from OAPT compared to non-adaptive or robustly optimised treatments. The work will also support the integration of advanced imaging (e.g. CBCT, CT–MRI workflows) into paediatric OAPT.
Methods will include retrospective dose accumulation studies, Monte Carlo simulations, NTCP-based modelling, and scenario simulations of different imaging/adaptation schedules. The project will involve collaboration with international paediatric proton therapy cohorts and leading European centres.
The PhD will be carried out at PSI and ETH Zurich, with secondments to partner proton therapy centres across Europe to analyse complementary paediatric cohorts and harmonise selection models and benefit–risk assessments.
For more information concerning the research project please contact:
Francesca Albertini
Candidate profile
Doctoral Candidate at Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)
- MSc degree in physics, biomedical engineer, software engineer or related studies
- Background in medical physics / biomedical engineering or closely related field.
- Interest in paediatric oncology, NTCP modelling and risk/benefit analyses.
- Experience with radiotherapy treatment planning, image processing or dose calculation is an advantage.
- Enjoy working at the interface of technology, clinical workflows and health policy/insurer perspectives.
- Experience or interest in applying AI / machine learning to healthcare workflows, prediction models or decision-support tools.
- Strong quantitative and analytical skills and the ability to work independently.
- High motivation to pursue research excellence in proton therapy and adaptive radiotherapy.
- Good communication skills and enjoyment of interdisciplinary, international teamwork
- Fluency in English (oral and written, C1 level).
- Programming skills and interest (e.g. Python, MATLAB, C++) and experience with scientific computing or data analysis.
- Fulfil the European MSCA mobility rule: you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Switzerland for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before your recruitment date.
Paul Scherrer Institut
EMPLOYING ASSOCIATED PARTNER
The Center for Proton Therapy CPT at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is the world leader in the development and clinical implementation of Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) and lntensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT), both of which have been pioneered at the PSI. Additionally, the first online adaptive PT CT-based workflow has also been delivered at PSI in 2023.