Invited lecture: Next generation technologies that can impact cancer therapy: FLASH, SFRT and TRNT
Date and Time: Tuesday, 11 November 2025, at 11.00-12.00 CET
Venue: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Lecture hall MP, Korytkova 2, 1000 Ljubljana
Invited Speaker: Prof. Dr. DABR. Joao Seco, Professor and Division Head, BioMedical Physics in Radiation Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
Short CV: Prof Seco graduated with a PhD from the University of London, at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and Royal Marsden Hospital in London, UK. He then went on to become an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, working at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He then returned to Europe to work at the German Cancer Research Center, DKFZ in Heidelberg, heading up a new group dedicated to ion beam research and with the focus on 1) novel imaging technologies to reduce Bragg peak positioning errors in patients and 2) on investigating the mechanism of radiation triggered DNA damage via reactive oxygen species. He is also presently the Chair of Medical Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University and is currently the Chair of the European School of Medical Physics (ESMPE), responsible for training medical physicists across Europe.
Short abstract of the Invited Lecture: Recent advances in radiation oncology have led to the emergence of next-generation therapeutic modalities that hold promise for transforming cancer treatment. Among these, FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT), Spatially Fractionated Radiotherapy (SFRT), and Targeted Radionuclide Therapy (TRNT) have gained significant attention for their potential to improve tumor control while minimizing normal tissue toxicity. FLASH-RT delivers ultra-high dose rates within milliseconds, eliciting differential biological effects that spare healthy tissue. SFRT employs non-uniform dose distributions, exploiting spatial dose modulation to enhance therapeutic ratios in bulky or radioresistant tumors. TRNT leverages radiopharmaceuticals that selectively deliver radiation to cancer cells, enabling systemic treatment of metastatic disease with precision. This talk will provide an overview of these emerging technologies and discuss how they can potentially reshape the future of cancer therapy through enhanced efficacy, safety, and personalization.
Organiser: University of Ljubljana cordially invites you to an expert lecture organised within the European project IFIGENEIA – Innovative Facility for Isotope GENeration with Efficient Ion Accelerator
Registration: Participation is free of charge.
The event will be recorded and photographed for promotional purposes.