The Advanced Radiotherapy Group (ARG) is a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, physicists, radiation biologists, radiographers, and physiologists whose remit is to research and develop new and refined radiotherapy treatments. This involves a wide range of approaches, from basic laboratory research to pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. This translational research group includes leading experts in the fields of radiation biology, radiotherapy physics, mathematical modelling, physiology, and radiation oncology.

The ARG membership has continually grown over the past ten years but it still maintains a focus on close partnerships, aiming to maximise impact for cancer patients. The key to our success is our ability to take preclinical findings and translate them to the clinic whilst using clinical information to drive new ideas in the laboratory.

Several clinical trials (ADRRAD, SPORT, CASPIR, BUSTIN) have been developed by members of the ARG and delivered within the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre. These studies cover key themes of the ARG: biomarker development, advanced radiotherapy treatments, normal tissue toxicity and radionuclide therapies.

A leading strength of the ARG is mathematical modelling of advanced radiotherapy treatments from in vitro through in vivo to clinical treatment plans and patient outcome data. Ongoing translational work is exploring combinations of advanced radiotherapy with image-guided therapies, ion beam therapies, and radionuclide approaches as well as newly discovered targeted therapies.

ARG members use leading edge preclinical technologies to explore new areas of translation research. These technologies include a state-of-the-art FLASH-SARRP - one of the first of its kind in the world – uniquely enabling the team to explore how ultrahigh dose rates radiotherapy can improve clinical outcomes.

Clinical physics research focuses on advanced image analysis and treatment planning. This expertise is key to supporting ongoing clinical trials, as well as the development of new technologies for in vivo dosimetry.

Aspects of the ARG’s work are disease specific, such as our focus in prostate cancer as part of the PCUK/Movember Centre of Excellence and the QUB ProEx Prostate Cancer Centre of Excellence. Other interests are in lung and brain tumours, and the unintended toxicities to normal tissues, such as the heart, lungs and bladder. This is important to refine therapeutic practice towards avoiding or minimizing the complication of radiotherapy.

Members of the ARG are involved in national and international collaborations around the world. The work of the ARG is funded by Prostate Cancer UK, UKRI, MRC, Cancer Research UK, Brainwaves NI, EPSRC, UK Department of Health, Friends of the Cancer Centre, HEA, The HSC R&D office, and the European Commission. The group have broad industrial collaborations with Augmenix, Astra Zeneca, PTW, GW, XStrahl, Almac and the National Physical Laboratory. ARG members have strong cross-faculty links with members of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) with on-going projects in laser produced beams at extreme high dose-rates.