Saul Hertz Award Recognises UKZN PhD Innovation In Precision Cancer Therapies

UKZN's Dr Bawinile Hadebel received the Saul Hertz Young Investigator Award for her PhD work in theranostics cancer treatment. Image supplied.

Losing her father to chemotherapy-related complications three years ago spurred Hadebe to explore improved approaches to cancer treatment.

Personalised approach

Theranostics is a personalised approach to treatment that integrates diagnostic techniques and targeted therapies to detect and treat various cancers.

The award honours her PhD work — under the guidance of her supervisor and head of the nuclear medicine discipline, Professor Mariza Vorster — in CXCR4-targeted imaging and her contribution towards targeted radionuclide therapies for prostate and neuroendocrine tumours.

“Cancer is a growing challenge worldwide, and we urgently need new ways to fight it.

“Theranostics is an exciting approach that lets us ‘see what we treat and treat what we see’.

“We use a special ‘search-and-destroy’ approach that involves injecting the patient with a specific radiotracer, which finds and highlights cancer cells on a scan (allowing us to see the cancer).

“We then inject a radiotracer with a more potent radiation, which delivers a targeted dose of radiation to kill those cancer cells while leaving the healthy parts of the body unharmed.”

Hadebe added, “Since this treatment targets the cancer directly, unlike other treatments such as chemotherapy, which target the whole body, we can avoid many of the harsh side effects often seen with chemotherapy.”

Personal connection

Hadebe, who hails from eHlokozi in iXopo on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, knows the harsh effects of chemotherapy all too well.

She watched with a sense of helplessness as her father endured the physical and emotional toll of the treatment, a journey that ultimately ended with his passing in 2022.

Targeted radionuclide therapy, she explains, remains a distant dream for many patients, and more effort is needed to make it more accessible.

That experience deepened her conviction that patients deserve treatments that are more precise and less debilitating.

“My father is the quiet strength behind my work. I see his face in every patient I treat, fuelling my drive to redefine what is possible in cancer care.”

For Hadebe, receiving a prestigious award recognising early- and mid-career researchers who have made significant strides in theranostics in South Africa affirms that her journey is on the right path.