Luke Acton

My research focuses on how alpha beta radiation can be combined to better treat prostate cancer. Some types of prostate cancer can be more resistant to treatment than others, including treatment using radiation. I am investigating if, how, and why we can overcome certain types of radiation resistance by combining different types of radiation, primarily alpha and beta. Because alpha and beta radiation are so different in how they damage cancer cells, any form of radiation resistance that may develop within cancers are likely to be quite different for each form of radiation treatment. I am testing whether the resistance that develops against one form of radiation therapy such as alphas or betas may make cancers vulnerable to the other form of radiation.

Alpha radiation is very toxic to specific parts of the body, including the salivary glands, and large doses can cause, for example, long-term dry mouth. We also think that the treatment potential of properly time-sequenced alpha and beta treatment can reduce side effects of sole alpha therapy and that the outcomes can be much greater when used together. Through this work, I will help determine how we can better time these treatments to produce better treatment outcomes and if, and by how much, the doses can be reduced to minimise side effects like long-term dry mout 

In the future, I am going to expand this to investigate how and why these prostate cancer cells behave like they do and, hopefully, inform more effective and less damaging treatment for prostate cancer. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Victoria Dunne at Queen’s University, Belfast.

I studied my Undergraduate Masters in Natural Sciences at the University of Leeds, specialising in physics and biology. After a role in clinical research at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, I completed a Postgraduate Masters in Clinical Sciences (Medical Physics) with the University of Liverpool, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, graduating as a Radiotherapy Physicist in 2024. As part of my Postgraduate Masters, I undertook an Elective in François Paris’ group at Nantes University investigating the ceramide-mediated radiation bystander effect in various tumour models.