# Ultra-high-dose-rate proton therapy for malignant glioma

> **NIH NIH R21** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $181,209

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The ability of malignant gliomas to infiltrate remote regions of the brain, far from their primary tumor mass, has
continually challenged the development of an effective therapy, and prognosis for patients with these tumors
remains poor, with median survival measured in weeks rather than years. Although radiotherapy plays a critical
role in extending life for these patients, radiation side effects in CNS can still be devastating and greatly affect
quality of life, which prevents the use of higher, cancer-sterilizing doses of radiation to treat the invasive
aspects of this disease. This application seeks to demonstrate a new radiobiologic element of particle therapy
delivered at ultra-high dose rates, which may reduce normal tissue toxicity in CNS and allow the safe use of
higher radiation doses to greater volumes of potentially involved brain, compared to conventional
radiotherapies. Recent studies by our group demonstrate the new method is experimentally feasible. We
propose to test our new ideas using rodent models of glioma. Furthermore, we will investigate the resulting
morphologic, cognitive, and pathologic changes after irradiation to quantify the toxicity of the new method,
which we expect to be lower than toxicities of conventional therapies. Collectively, these aims will provide the
preclinical data and new biologic knowledge needed to advance therapy towards human clinical trials to
improve treatment of malignant glioma and other brain tumors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9913488
- **Project number:** 5R21CA226562-02
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** John G. Eley
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $181,209
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-11 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9913488

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9913488, Ultra-high-dose-rate proton therapy for malignant glioma (5R21CA226562-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9913488. Licensed CC0.

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