Oxygen levels in tumors affect response to treatment
tumors with lower levels of oxygen — known as hypoxia — often respond less well to radiation therapy. There are several agents that can be given to patients before radiotherapy to reduce hypoxia, but these are not given as standard. Being able to measure how well-oxygenated an individual’s tumor is would give doctors a valuable way of identifying which patients might benefit from treatment with hypoxia reducing agents before radiotherapy. Hypoxia has previously been investigated by looking at the expression of certain genes, and Manchester researchers have come up with a genetic profile for tumors that should indicate the overall level of oxygenation…