A new study by University of South Australia (UniSA) researchers will explore this question over the next two years, using data from a US hospital to model patient outcomes based on individual cancers, radiosensitivity, sex and age of the children.

UniSA PhD candidate Mikaela Dell’Oro and her supervisors (Dr Michala Short, Dr Puthenparampil Wilson and Prof Eva Bezak) have been awarded $100,000 by the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation to lead the project, which will assess the risk of developmental disorders in children as a result of using proton beams to treat paediatric brain tumours.