Vidhula Ahire

My research focuses on understanding why some prostate cancers become resistant to radioligand therapy and radiotherapy, and how this resistance can be overcome.This work is important because advanced prostate cancer, particularly when it spreads to bone, can respond unpredictably to treatment. Some metastatic sites remain difficult to control, and patients need more personalised treatment strategies.

At the University of Oxford, I study how metabolic changes influence the response of prostate cancer cells and bone metastases to 177Lu-PSMA therapy. I use preclinical models, FDG and PSMA based imaging approaches, radiobiology assays and drug combination studies to investigate how oxidative stress pathways and metabolic adaptation affect radiosensitivity. A particular focus of my work is the pentose phosphate pathway, G6PD driven radioresistance, and the use of targeted agents such as antifolates and pathway inhibitors to improve response.

My aim is to identify metabolic imaging signatures that can help distinguish resistant from sensitive disease and guide rational combination treatments. In the longer term, this work could support more tailored treatment planning for patients with metastatic prostate cancer and help identify new therapeutic strategies for resistant tumours. Alongside my research, I contribute to the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences as a Research Staff Representative and remain actively involved in teaching, mentoring and scientific communication.

I obtained my PhD in Biotechnology from Savitribai Phule Pune University in collaboration with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India, where my doctoral research focused on ellagic acid as a radiosensitiser in cervical cancer cells. I was later awarded the Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship and worked at Deakin University, Australia, studying biomarkers in breast cancer and NET models.

My postdoctoral and research experience spans radiobiology, cancer metabolism, therapy resistance and translational cancer research. I have worked at the Academic Medical Centre in The Netherlands on hyperthermia, radiotherapy and synthetic lethality; at GANIL in France on 3D bioprinted chondrosarcoma models and radiation responses; at Anticancer Biosciences Ltd. in China on synthetic lethality based drug discovery; and at Institut Curie in France on proton mini beam therapy in radioresistant glioblastoma models. These experiences have shaped my current work at Oxford on radioligand therapy, metabolic radioresistance and personalised treatment strategies for metastatic prostate cancer.