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Hello there Maria Fili, who has presented her thesis on local radiation therapy for eye melanoma

28 January 2021

Eye specialist Maria Fili defended her thesis "Aspects of dose, dose rate and radioisotopes in brachytherapy of Uveal Melanoma" on 15 January, 2021. She wrote her thesis at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and St. Erik Eye Hospital

En mörkhårig kvinna i blå klänning som ler.

Maria Fili.

What is your thesis about?

"It is about local radiotherapy for eye melanoma," Maria Fili says.

Why did you choose this topic?

"From the very start of my eye specialist training, I have had a special commitment to these patients. It is an unusual tumour and sadly it still has a fairly grim prognosis which has not improved in the past few decades. At St. Erik Eye Hospital, we have a uniquely large patient material to analyse, as we have registered all patients since we started giving local radiotherapy in 1979."

What is the most important finding in your thesis?

"That the doses and dose rates that we currently use are safe and effective, that the radiation sources we use are optimal for the tumour size we are treating, and that women and men receive the same benefits from the treatment."

What do you hope your thesis will achieve?

"That it benefits the patients. We can now give them better information about the safety of local radiotherapy. We will also continue using our register for further studies."

What will you do now that you thesis is done?

"I will be on parental leave for the next six months and take a break. Then my supervisor Gustav Stålhammar and I will continue our research, in addition to my work as an eye specialist at the paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus clinic at St. Erik."

Why is research so important?

"To prevent patients from falling ill and possibly even dying in vain. It is our duty to compile the information they provide us in search of future treatments and cures. And as a bonus, it is really fun."


Updated
28 January 2021