Abstract:
Patients undergoing radiation therapy exhibit differential responses to radiation that are the result of multiple radiobiological and pathological facets. The ability to tailor radiation dose to the inherent radiosensitivity and response of the patient would open a promising avenue for personalized radiation oncology. Our group explores the utility of optical light scattering phenomena for the expressed purpose of monitoring cellular and tissue response to ionizing radiation used in cancer therapy. In this talk we will discuss some of our experimental and data analytic strategies for use in radiation response monitoring. We will show that Raman spectroscopy, in combination with data analytic strategies, can be used to effectively monitor radiation-induced dynamics of individual biochemical profiles. The multiplexed nature of Raman spectroscopy allows for the simultaneous, spatially resolved determination of lipid, protein, metabolite, and DNA profiles. Used in combination with clinical and biological assays, Raman spectroscopy offers a new and exciting tool for personalized radiation oncology.