The NuCapCure project aims to revolutionise modern oncology through two groundbreaking therapies for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common, incurable brain tumour.
GBM is the most frequent and deadliest brain tumour, diagnosed in nearly a quarter of a million people worldwide every year. The current standard treatment – a combination of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy – only extends patients' lives by about a year and places a significant physical and financial burden on affected individuals and global healthcare systems.
Seven partners of the NuCapCure project from the fields of physics, chemistry, and biology are working on two radical, multimodal cancer treatment approaches based on protons and neutrons, specifically tailored to GBM. The therapeutic approaches are designed to leverage the tumour's own cellular biosynthesis and transform cancer cells into a sort of intracellular mini-chemical laboratory, compelling them to produce drugs that will facilitate the proton and neutron based therapies. The new treatments are intended to protect the surrounding healthy brain tissue and are also significantly more cost-effective than currently used conservative tumour therapies, especially when considering the chances of a cure.
Our involvement in the NuCapCure project entails adapting the neutron beams of the LVR-15 research reactor for in vitro (outside living organisms) and in vivo (in living organisms) studies, focusing on exposure to thermal neutrons and subsequent irradiation. Furthermore, with our research infrastructure including a gamma spectrometry laboratory and a biological laboratory, we oversee research activities with irradiated samples or laboratory animals. Drawing from our experience in utilising neutron beams and their modifications, as well as practical experience in boron neutron capture therapy in its early stages, which even led to pilot studies on patients at the turn of the millennium.
The NuCapCure project represents a significant step towards higher efficiency and effectiveness in treating glioblastoma multiforme, bringing hope for improving the lives of affected patients worldwide.
You can find more information and current events on the project website.
