Research summary
Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours. Dr. Ayman Oweida, Canada Research Chair in Anti-Tumor Immunity by Radiotherapy, is working to identify new therapeutic targets that will improve how cancer responds to radiation.
Oweida and his research team aim to define the types of immune responses that are triggered by radiotherapy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Using state-of-the-art, image-guided radiotherapy and other unique approaches—such as animal models, clinical samples, molecular imaging and genome-sequencing—they are investigating new immunotherapies that can be combined with radiotherapy to improve treatment for patients with head and neck cancer.