new paradigms in cancer imaging

Released 25 April 2005

MEDICAL SCHOOL INAUGURAL LECTURE – Is size important? New paradigms in cancer imaging 17/05/05

In the fourth Brighton and Sussex Medical School public lecture, Professor Ken Miles, Professor of Imaging, will present latest findings from his extensive studies into cancer imaging.

Medical imaging is a term used to describe the various techniques which provide a visual representation of a body part for the purpose of medical diagnosis. More generally, medical imaging is also referred to as X-ray or radiology.

These techniques, including X-ray, mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), gamma cameras, digital radiography, computed tomography (CT), picture archiving and communications, osteoporosis diagnostic imaging equipment, 3D imaging and ultrasound equipment have had a significant impact on the clinical management of patients with cancer. The ability to demonstrate the size and extent of tumours within the body provides clinicians with information that is often essential for diagnosis, selecting the most appropriate treatment and assessing treatment response. To date, these decisions have been made using criteria that are based largely on measurements of tumour size. However, such measurements have important limitations. This lecture will illustrate how novel imaging techniques that depict genetic or molecular events in tumours can overcome some of the limitations of a purely structural approach to cancer imaging.

Professor Ken Miles was appointed Professor of Imaging at Brighton and Sussex Medical School in September 2003 following a move back to the UK after eight years in Australia where he was Adjunct Professor in the School of Medical, Health and Environmental Physics at the Queensland University of Technology and Director of Nuclear Medicine at the Wesley Hospital, Brisbane.
During his time in Australia, Prof Miles led the establishment of Queensland’s first positron emission tomography (PET) centre and acted as an advisor on PET and other aspects of imaging to state and federal governments.

Prof Miles has been interested in diagnostic imaging since completing his medical training at Guy’s Hospital in the early 80s. In 2000 he received the British Institute of Radiology Barclay Prize for his research pioneering the use of computed tomography (CT) for measuring tissue blood flow. He now focuses on the use of CT and other techniques to study tumour blood flow and angiogenesis (the process of forming new blood vessels). He said “The imaging of tumour angiogenesis illustrates how modern imaging research can study the underlying genetic and biochemical causes of disease in patients.”
Additionally, thanks to Prof Miles’ broad knowledge of and enthusiasm for all forms of diagnostic imaging techniques, BSMS undergraduates are able to gain experience of these technologies early on in their degree. A variety of imaging tools are used to support and illustrate key learning points in a range of subjects including anatomy, physiology and biochemistry.
Professor Miles is also Honorary Consultant in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

The lecture will take place at the Westlain House on the University of Brighton campus in Falmer on Tuesday 17 May 2005, starting at 6.30pm.