Discovery RESEARCH, INNOVATION, IDEAS FINDINGS
FINDINGS
U of G researchers work to improve cancer treatments Cancer treatment may become more effective thanks to University of Guelph physicists who have developed an innovative way to accurately target radiation therapy. Radiation therapy aims beams of intense energy at a tumour to kill cancer cells. But if the ultranarrow beam is aimed inaccurately, it can hit healthy cells and “underdose” the target tumour. Led by Dr. Dennis Mücher, a professor in the Department of Physics, U of G researchers have come up with a technique called a “hadron tumour marker” to make proton radiation therapy more accurate. They tested the technique at TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for nuclear and medical physics in Vancouver. Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada and half of all cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy. Cancer radiation therapy using ions, including charged particles such as protons, has become more widespread because it can target 10 | PORTICO Summer 2021
tumours and cancer cells with great precision. That makes it especially useful for treating cancers in delicate tissues like the eyes, brain or spinal cord. In a separate study, U of G scientists harnessed tumour-killing viruses that may one day help treat devastating forms of breast, brain and pancreatic cancer. A research team led Dr. Sam Workenhe has shown for the first time that a one-two punch of cancer-killing viruses and chemotherapy can help trigger tumour inflammation, stimulating the body’s immune system to control tumour growth. Workenhe, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology, said the study may ultimately help doctors enlist patients’ immune systems to fight cancers with especially poor treatment outcomes from conventional surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. “The implications of these findings for human cancer therapy are huge,” he said. “We wake up the immune system.”
High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is all the rage these days, but it may not be as beneficial for weight loss and blood pressure as a moderate-intensity, more frequent exercise regimen, a new University of Guelph study has revealed. Researchers found that moderate-intensity exercise five times a week lowers body fat and improves blood pressure, but these health outcomes did not occur following a HIIT program three times a week. The study was led by Drs. Jamie Burr and Graham Holloway, professors in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, and PhD student Heather Petrick. “All exercise is good exercise, whether it’s fast, furious and infrequent, or slow, steady and sustainable,” Burr said. “But compared to infrequent interval training, daily moderate exercise appears to be more effective at improving blood pressure and blood glucose.”
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Frequent, moderate exercise better for health